Some Times (Time and Time Again)
by RenaRoo
Summary: Booster Gold and the rest of the Time Masters are still straightening up things in the wake of the most recent universal Rebirth. But Rip Hunter is still missing in the aftermath, leaving Booster in charge with Skeets, Michelle, and Rani. But there's a distraction for Booster, one he can't keep himself from ignoring. Ted Kord, miraculously, is still alive. [COMPLETE]
1. Blue Beetle

I've been toying around with this idea for what feels like forever, at least since the _Rebirth_ books got launched over at DC, and I finally got time to really sit down and work it out. I'm really excited for this fic and hope it's decent enough for some of you out there!

Disclaimer: Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and associated characters are the creative property of DC Comics.

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter One: Blue Beetle

Life without an assistant, as it turns out, is shockingly compressed on time.

Jaime doesn't need much help on his progress as the Blue Beetle, but so long as he _is_ the Blue Beetle, Ted has no interest in slacking on the kid's training. Assistant or no assistant.

With his laptop balancing precariously on his knee, and himself balancing precariously on the sloping hood of the Beetle, Ted is attempting to keep track of company stocks, a slack chat with members of his board, an incoming tech report from some computer analyst he hired out of Jaime's high school last week, and not waste _too_ much of his bagel in the process.

Despite the distractions, however, Ted's real concentration is still on Jaime's blaster as it destroys thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours of equipment in the simulation fight.

It's what Ted built it for, but _still_ …

"Seriously, Mister Kord, I have to go meet my mom in, like, fifteen minutes," Jaime shouts out over the sounds of debris dinging against the lab's metal floors. He's not even looking in Ted's direction as he wastes _another_ AI dummy that is gunning for him.

Feeling himself sliding a bit, Ted kicks back against the Beetle some to get back on his perch, his computer bobbing with the jarring, bagel bits flying. He wonders if an assistant would have helped with the bagel parts. And then he plays back the memory of Jaime's highly pitched complaints.

"Hey, hey! How many times do I have to tell you, it's not _Mister Kord,_ kid, it's _Ted,"_ he argues on the important part.

Jaime's suit unites his hand blasters into a single canon and blasts through more expensive equipment. He then looks over his shoulder and squints his large, buggy yellow eyes at Ted. "Maybe you should stop calling me _kid_ then, _Ted!_ Also, you're missing the part where I'm warning you about a very angry Missus Reyes."

Ted answers an email by holding the remains of his bagel between his teeth. Then he tilts his head back and swallows what he can, choking a bit, and accidentally sending a string of keyboard smashes to his company's board of executives in response to a question about why so much money is being poured into _Extraneous Funding._ Bits of extraneous funded superhero training material flies toward Ted and the Beetle and if Ted didn't know any better, he'd think Jaime was aiming in spite.

"Watch it, Jaime! I just buffed out the last dent in the Bug," Ted warns, using his not-free-but-freer hand to rub the glistening hood to his side.

There's a keening noise coming from the scarab on Jaime's back that is only matched in annoyance by the groaning that Jaime's doing on top of it. "Mister Kord!"

" _Ted!"_

 _"Ted!_ My mom! Ten minutes!"

Stock prices do dip, there's _another_ email update from this needy El Paso kid-slash-computer-genius, the board is up in arms at the insufficient response, Ted feels his stomach churning either in response to the million nasty things happening _or_ to his bagel. And it all culminates in a tremor through his lower spine.

Despite or because of everything happening, Ted slips more from his spot, his body shifting and sliding right off the nose of the Bug. He, and all of his things, hit the floor in a clatter that manages to get Jaime to turn away from his training simulation entirely.

"Whoa! Ted, are you okay?" he asks just before getting hit by a blaster from behind.

"See! Never let your guard down!" Ted manages to yell before rolling over onto his back and laying in his mess of a lab and mess of a life. "Not even for your great and mighty mentor."

He continues to lie on the floor, noting mentally that it's surprisingly comfortable given that everything exploding in the lab eventually ends up there. It's only when his vision is obscured by Jaime — no longer in his suit — staring down at him that he centers himself _at least_ enough to be responsible for the teenager that he's _totally_ responsible for.

"Are you okay, Mister Kord?" Jaime asks, brows knitted in a little bit more genuine concern than what he usually offers Ted.

"I thought about it," Ted answers with a harrowing breath. He releases the breath and melts into the floor a bit more. "And no. But who, at thirty-six, can truthfully say yes to that question."

Jaime looks at him like he has three heads.

"Talk to me again in twenty years and we'll laugh about it," Ted promises him. "Get out of here, I don't need a scary-angry Missus Reyes and _you_ deserve a break. What'd'ya say?"

"Okay cool," Jaime says, immediately walking away.

"You cold offer to help me up!" Ted yells after him.

"Do you _want_ up?" Jaime asks from the doorway.

Ted stares at the ceiling and considers it. "Get out of here kid, I need to find a new assistant."

"See you later, Mister Kord," Jaime calls, closing the door behind himself and the last laugh.

"Kids," Ted huffs to himself. "I need an assistant _my_ age. No. Ten years younger. So I can watch the hope and youthful naivety die. That should sustain me. Think like a corporate CEO. Socioipathy. Hating kittens and… breathable oxygen or something."

There's a long silence in the lab, just Ted with himself and his thoughts. And when those turn scary he finally manages to get himself up, gather his things, and to start working on the next project.

Finding his new personal assistant.

There has been a stack of portfolios on his desk for a while, now, a few days at least. And he _should_ be going through them for review but he hasn't.

They all look the same on paper. Even the one written in German.

There isn't enough time, and he's only getting _shorter_ on time the longer he goes without a personal assistant who is _literally_ a speedster.

Time's a funny thing that way.

Ted finds ways to waste more time without fully committing to any project or any responsibility in a way that matters before giving up in defeat and burying his head into the paperwork on his desk. There aren't as many pings from his computers and he could _probably_ rewire some of the broken lab equipment sooner than later, but he's not _really_ doing anything by the time his bagel fullness has subsided into the ache of needing a lunch break.

Which, on a normal day, is when Ted can finally get a hold of everything and pick a direction. He doesn't really get the opportunity, though.

His head is still on the desk when an unfamiliar, radiant light picks up somewhere in the center of the lab, sending out a subtle heat that dies down with the light itself.

It hasn't been that long since lizard people attacked so it doesn't _automatically_ raise Ted's hackles the way it probably should, but it does at least get him to look up from his desk and see that the light was from some sort of transportation used to enter his lab.

And the one who used the transportation was none other than his best-friend-then-gone, and oddly out of touch, for years.

Booster Gold stares at him from the center of the room, his goggles resting up on his hairline rather than on his nose, letting Ted see the way Booster's eyebrows ruffle together. They then raise in almost _shock_ as he continues staring Ted's way.

Ted blinks a few times. "Mikey?"

There's a deep breath from Booster before he even _blinks._ Then he shakes his head, as if trying to parse reality, before finally looking at Ted again. "Beetle!" he blurts out, like it's something he hasn't gotten to shout in years.

Which, who knows, maybe he hasn't.

"Did you just teleport into my office-slash-laboratory?" Ted tries to figure out.

"Of course I did!" Booster shouts again, laughing forcefully. He almost seems hoarse already.

"That's… _weird._ Since when could you teleport?" Ted continues to question. "Also _why?_ And. Uh. Hello. Been a while."

"It has been. It's been… way too long," Booster continues, seeming breathless. "Wow. Okay. Cool."

He seems so incredibly happy and relieved and just all these other emotions that Booster doesn't wear comfortably.

And Ted, well, he's growing impatient the more the confusion lingers.

"Yeah, it's like the last time I saw you was in a car commercial," Ted says flatly.

"Ha, yeah," Booster replies without any weight to it.

"Probably because it _was,"_ Ted leans in.

That, at least, seems to bring down the thousand watt smile to something closer to a nine hundred. "Oh."

The air becomes stale unbelievably quickly.

"Yeah," is all Ted can manage to say.

Booster continues to stare at him, some of the disbelief finally fading into mild concern. Which, Ted kind of hates because only _Booster_ could make him feel like the bad guy for pointing out the truth.

Well, maybe other people, like a well paid assistant someday in the near future.

"Did we leave off on bad terms?" Booster asks, obviously fishing.

"I don't know," Ted answers honestly. "Did we?"

With that, Booster's brows furrow again and he tilts his chin down, running his hand through the back of his hair nervously. "Hell, I don't know. I.. There's been a lot, y'know. Just. A lot. And… I didn't know I could… if you…"

There is something to Booster's words and actions that feels disconnected. He's holding back a lot, which is weird. Because it's Booster.

But the sentiment, well, Ted knows it all too well.

"Yeah, I get it. Me, too," Ted huffs. "I guess… I mean. There's not a whole lot to hang out about when, well, I'm retired and you're… not? I guess. I don't know where you even live anymore."

"I can't… _really_ retire from the current gig," Booster announces, again with that veiled subject. But he's quick to change topic. "And there's _every reason_ to hang out with you. In fact, I'm glad you're retired. Fuck, man, you _better_ be retired and…" He stops himself short, pinches the bridge between his eyes, and then comes back to focus. "I came to ask if you… if you wanna get some drinks?"

"You teleported into my office-slash-laboratory to ask if we could get drinks before noon on a Tuesday?" Ted asks incredulously.

Booster blinks, looks around the mess of a lab, and then looks at Ted again. "Uh. Yeah?"

Ted considers it only for a second before sighing and coming to his feet. "Okay, fine, you've convinced me."

"Wow, that took… no work whatsoever," Booster says in vacant surprise.

"It's been a hell of a morning and I want to figure out what's different with you," Ted announces. "I mean, again, last time I saw you was a car commercial—"

"Did I look good in it?" Booster asks almost mindlessly, his gaze a thousand yards past Ted at the time.

"No, the whole thing was on your bad side. You know. Where your chin looks bad," Ted responds sarcastically, looking Booster over. "Seriously, what's up?"

"Just drinks," Booster promises, holding up his hands.

Ted squints at him. "Drinks and… mole people? Time eating octopus? A heist for J'onn's Chocos?"

"Do you really think so little of me?" Booster asks, actually _looking_ at Ted again. He seems… strangely earnest about it all. In a raw, painful kind of way.

Ted leans back, worried. "Uh. Did someone die?"

"No," Booster laughs. Only, it's not just a laugh, it's an uproarious joyful kind of noise from the back of Booster's throat. "Isn't that the greatest thing you've ever heard? Isn't that the _best news_ I've ever given you? No one's… Everyone's… Wow. I sound like I've lost my mind."

Booster walks past Ted and all but _collapses_ into Ted's desk chair, crumbling like a fallen tower, until his head has fallen between his knees.

Ted is stunned. And worried. Mostly stunned.

"Jesus, Michael," Ted manages to get out as he approaches his friend. He looks around his desk, grabbing for the menus he knows are somewhere among the rubbish. "We'll just order and have something delivered here for lunch. How's that sound?"

"Yeah, yeah," Booster continues hoarsely. "That sounds… Yeah, that's an amazing idea, Teddy."

At the sound of his old nickname, Ted has to pause looking through low sodium options and instead really _looks_ at his friend. He's pale and has bags under his eyes. There's a certain unkempt nature to his hair and it's sticking up behind his ears like it hasn't been trimmed in a while. He's clean shaven, but there's the dusting of five o'clock shadow on his left cheek from an uneven shave.

It's the worst Michael has looked to his knowledge. At least short of any life-or-death situations.

"What aren't you telling me?" Ted not so much as asks as he _demands._

"A lot," Booster answers.

That's not good enough and it explains nothing. And normally Ted wouldn't think twice about saying as much. But for the moment, in that uniquely personal and miserably resigned way, Ted gives a gentler "Okay" instead.

When the air grows stale again, Ted tries a different approach.

"Is there anything you _can_ tell me?"

Booster smiles just enough that his dimples make themselves known. "You'll never have any idea how happy I am to see you again, Ted."

Despite his confusion and concern, Ted can't help the no-doubt dorky smile that comes to his face. "Right back at you," he says, and it's so truthful it hangs heavy in his voice. He offers up, in a mousy way, his fist. "Blue and Gold?"

There's a brittle honesty to the expression of relief and appreciation in Booster's face as he takes his own fist and bumps his knuckles against Ted's. "Blue and Gold," he says back almost reverently.

For a moment, Ted wonders how this is going to end, if it will be too soon or too long. He's just strangely concerned and glad all at once that it exists at all.

So, of course, predictably, it ends too soon.

There's a flash in the center of the laboratory, just like before, only this time both Ted and Michael are looking in its direction before it's even over.

Booster manages to voice his surprise before Ted even has the chance.

"Skeets?" Booster's voice strains.

"Michael, you're needed for…" Skeets' synthesized voice hesitates, if such a thing is possible for an AI, and the shiny robotic body shifts into Ted's direction for a moment. "Hello, Blue Beetle."

"Hey, I have a secret identity," Ted jokes, waving to his Blue Beetle themed tee and the Bug.

Skeets, ever the comedic one, does not even acknowledge the detectable sarcasm in Ted's voice before turning back to Booster. "Sir, you have an… _appointment._ With Rani."

Ted can't help his eyebrow raising and he looks toward Booster for clarification. He's never heard the name _Rani_ before, at least that he can think of. And he definitely hasn't heard the name in connection to Booster.

But there is immediate recognition in Booster's eyes. His body tenses up and he seems immediately more put together than he has appeared since teleporting right back into Ted's life. He doesn't even seem to realize that Ted is looking directly at him.

"Is she okay? I mean, does it have to be _right now_ or…" Booster trails off, looking to Ted.

"I have been sent after you, Michael," Skeets deadpans.

"Can't you reschedule?" Ted asks, a little put off by all of this rather sudden and unexpected developments.

"It's not that kind of date," Booster says, getting to his feet and then flinching at his own words. "It's… not a date at all it's…" He seems uncomfortable in his own skin for a moment, scratching at his chin. "You…uh… I guess we should catch up. Soon. Like, _really_ soon. You don't know Rani? Really? Damn. I mean…"

"No," Ted says flatly, crossing his arms as he sits back on his desk. "I guess we should catch up soon. Like over a lunch or something."

"Okay, great," Booster says, walking forward.

"I'd say pop in any time, but that seems to be the assumption—" Ted begins to snark, but he's cut off almost immediately by the tight embrace of Booster. It's so tight it nearly knocks the air out of him.

Booster's been working out since they last got into shenanigans together, it feels like he's cutting off Ted's circulation almost just through the hug. It's warm, though, and it feels like the sort of emotional explosion that Ted would expect after years. Without the random teleportations and promises of lunch left thus far unfulfilled.

After a moment of the hug, Ted is finally able to gather himself enough to hug back, too, patting Booster's shoulder as he does so.

"I miss you, too, buddy," Ted says.

"It won't be long, I'll… I can promise that," Booster says, finally letting go, holding Ted's shoulders at arms length. "There's just… some really hard stuff to explain going on right now."

"I'll hold you to that," Ted jokes as Booster lets him go. "It's… uh. Well it's good to see you again. And will be again. Soon. Ish? Right?"

"Definitely," Booster promises, getting close to where Skeets is in the center of the lab. "I'm… It's great to see you again, Ted."

"Uh, yeah," Ted responds, waving just as the flash of light from before happens again, disappearing along with his best friend and his best friend's robot from the future.

He remains where he is, leaned back on his desk, and tilts his head to the side.

"So how do I explain any of this in my log today," he wonders out loud. After a long moment, he shrugs and runs a hand through his hair. " _Blue and Gold Nonsense_ it is then."


	2. Time Masters

Sorry for the long wait, everyone! I don't have much of an excuse other than end of the year/start of the year shenanigans. But I'm back and hoping to write a lot more consistently now!

Special thanks to sinkburrito, SheWhoDancesUnderTheMoon, Erie, secretlystephaniebrown, fred-astairs-dark-impulses, shibascarf, kaldurrr, bibliofilariidae, spacedolphinsanddandelions, spiralcass, and noartificialfruitjuice

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter Two: Time Masters

Time Lab is, still, a complete and utter disaster.

Sparks fly from gadgetry that even Michelle's 25th century mind cannot comprehend, there's a random wormhole that she thinks is still appearing in the cupboard, and for reasons _beyond_ comprehension, her room and Michael's room switched at some point after the Flashpoint tipped over into the current reality they were a part of.

She stands at the center of the catastrophe that is their home, worrying her lip as she looks around and tries to think straight — tries to think _What Would Rip Do?_ without any clear answer in sight.

There is a certain level of chaos that, as a time traveler herself, and as a sometime-quasi-assistant to her brother, she is more than familiar with. It felt like ( _was?_ ) only yesterday that she helped punch a Confederate soldier riding a sabre tooth tiger. And that was… well, it wasn't _fine_ but it was _manageable_ by her estimates.

This seemed far less so. This…

Well, it's a disaster. And no matter whether Rip would do _this_ rather than _that_ or anything else her frazzled mind can conceive, the fact of the matter is that Michelle Carter is _not_ Rip Hunter.

And so far as she can tell in this strange, new, all-but- _rebirthed_ reality that the space time continuum has chosen, _no one else is either._

Such a revelation, such a _concept,_ scares her more than an entire army of racist soldiers riding extinct mammals.

Worrying her lip some more, Michelle wonders what else she's missing, what else she can _do_ just as a familiar energy courses through the room just behind her. She spins around and races toward her twin.

"Mikey! Oh, thank god," she breathes in a flood of relief before wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I am _so sorry_ I had to send Skeets after you. I know you were going to see how things were with… with _Ted_ , but—"

"They're good," Michael says quickly, lightly and awkwardly patting her back. "Also, someone needs a shower."

She backs off enough to look in his face and glare. "Are you kidding right now? All the stuff I've been doing to pick up debris and get our rooms organized and repair the power—"

"Yeah, you've done great," he mocks, walking forward and carefully lifting up a hanging wire in order to pass it.

"Don't mess with me right now, Michael, I'm tense," she continues to warn, walking in step behind him.

"I'm not _entirely_ kidding," he throws her a bone, heading toward the corridor on the other side of the main lab and instinctively heading toward Rani's room. "How bad is it?"

Michelle takes a reflexive breath, her heart aching with a dull but familiar pain as they neared their ward's bedroom. She hates this — hates being all but useless when it comes to Rani and her emotional needs. She understands _why_ in these horrible moments it has to be Michael there for Rani, but she can hardly stand it all the same.

Even Rip, grouchy as he is ( _was?_ ), can get a smile from Rani just by mentioning his name.

And it helps Michelle to continue feeling like chopped liver.

"She hasn't been able to go to sleep," Michelle answers at last. She instinctively worries at her lip again as they draw closer to the door. "She's… She's been asking for Rip."

Hand flat against the door, Michael stops. He looks back at her, a certain creese growing between his brows.

There is a moment that can only pass between twins as they lock eyes. A sort of doubling of the emotions they both feel — sorrow, regret, confusion, apprehension. It strikes like lightning, right through Michelle's core. But it's _shared_. They both _know_ the feeling that they're sharing and in the moment, it's a little lighter of a burden to share.

For a moment, they're less alone with their thoughts.

Once the moment's passed, Michael turns back to the door and pushes their way on through.

Rani's room is the first one that both Michelle and Michael prioritized and, as a result, it's the least disastrous of the Time Lab. The walls are still honey yellow with explosions of rainbows, hearts, and butterflies all over. It's the perfect nine-year-old's room. Complete holographic solar system borrowed from the thirty-second century and all.

Despite being surrounded by the room's aesthetic warmth and the comforts of her own century's technology and gadgetry, Rani is tensely wrapped up in her duck covered pajamas once they enter the room.

She's biting her nails again and that causes a pang through Michelle.

It all changes, though, once Rani looks over and sees her favorite person in the galaxy and worlds. Rani lights up, leaping to her feet and jumping from the bed to Michael's waiting arms.

"Mikey! You're back!" she cries out with the sort of jubilation people usually reserve for concerts or ballgames.

"Of course I am," he says with the boisterous confidence he's able to project so easily. He wraps his arms around Rani and securely walks her back to the bed. "And _you_ are still up, young lady! It's past your curfew."

Michelle lingers, watching securely by the door. She tells herself it's because she's waiting on her brother to continue more serious conversations. In her heart she knows it's at least partially to somehow learn his secrets in dealing with Rani. Or maybe to just answer the question of how _Michael Jon Carter_ received the parental genes she's lacking.

"I'm waiting," Rani argues, squeezing Michael so tightly that she's scratching the back of his neck. She's _afraid_ to let _go._ And that causes another pang.

"You know, I learned a secret," Michael informs her, laying her back into bed and curling himself around her enough that her back is secure against the mattress without forcing her to let go of his neck just yet. "A secret about how to wait for things in your sleep."

"I just want to wait," she yawns. "I don't need sleep yet."

"Sure you don't, kiddo, I know that," he chuckles, leaning back slowly enough that Rani begins to slip her grip of him. " _I_ know you don't need it, and _you_ know you don't need it." He then covers the side of his face with the back of his hand before stage whispering loud enough for Michelle to hear. "It's _Michelle_ who hasn't learned it yet."

That elicits a giggle from Rani, but all Michelle has to offer is a frustrated sigh and the roll of her eyes.

"Bad guy yet again," Michelle mutters to herself.

"Mikey," Rani mumbles, words beginning to roll from her mouth between deep breaths and yawns. "I want to wait up."

"Wait up for what, sweetheart?" Michael asks, as if he doesn't already know.

"For… for another _explosion,"_ she answers, her sleep deprived eyes opening wide once again. "Oh, Mikey. There's going to be another one."

"No, no there's…"

Protectively stiffening up, Michelle scowls and clears her throat.

Michael glances back at her, looking like a kicked dog. But he's not going to successfully guilt her this time.

They have already agreed. They can't continue to make promises like that to Rani. Not with the way their lives work. Not with how much it has shaken Rani up to go through the near destruction of another home.

If their word is going to mean anything, they have to stop giving out promises they can't guarantee.

Giving up, Michael sighs and looks back at Rani. "Listen, Rani. I'm sorry… I'm sorry that things got so scary for you. If I could, I would have stopped it from happening at all."

Michelle breathes deeply and closes her eyes. She knows Michael's telling the truth — he tried, _god_ did he and Rip try. It was an impossible task, to stitch the worlds and time and space itself together while everything they had ever known melted and regrew before their eyes. A thankless, impossible mission.

It gave them a world that was _almost_ the same, and yet too different to feel comfortable in. The air tasted more bitter. The Sundollar had reinstated its ban on Booster Gold. And stuff that seemed so incidental — like the location of someone's bedroom — changed in a way to make everything feel different than home.

And Rip…

They still hadn't seen any sign of Rip, or found any trace of his existence.

Brave, new, terrible world.

"I want to wait for _Boppy,"_ Rani continues, grinding her teeth together. "I miss him."

"Rip could be away for a while, kiddo, you know the drill," Michael says quickly and naturally. "Saving the world, big important missions. All that stuff."

"But Boppy says _you_ always do the flashy stuff. He likes doing the smart stuff," Rani argues, her brows knitting together. "He's _never_ gone this long."

"We're just doing what we can, Rani, and I'm sure he misses you even more than you miss him," he promises. "But one thing's for sure, he wants to see a _well rested, not tired_ Rani. Not a grumpy little mess."

And with that, Michael reaches forward and tickles Rani beneath her arms, causing her to squirm and giggle. "I'm not grumpy!"

"Oh, yes you are, you're a _way_ grumpy," he argues, finally stopping and smirking down at her. "It kind of makes you look like Rip."

Rani giggles and rejects the notion, but as she settles down, she's more tired and slow. Her eyes already heavy and hardly opened. "But if Boppy doesn't come home soon… won't you go out and make him come home again, Mikey? _Please?_ I just don't want bad things to happen to him. _Please._ "

Michael sat back a bit and took a breath. Michelle hoped, beyond hope, it was to steel himself for delivering slight disappointment.

By now, she really should have known better.

"Okay, Rani, I promise," he says before leaning forward and kissing her forehead.

"Thank you, Mikey," she yawns and turns to her side.

Michelle shakes her head, even as Michael stands up and begins to come her way.

"Michael!" she hisses at him.

He shushes her and then closes the door behind them. "Careful, I can't sweet talk her a second time tonight."

Michelle juts out her jaw and glares at him as they go down the hall. "I can't believe you would — _we agreed not to make promises —"_

"I said we wouldn't make promises we _can't keep,"_ Michael shrugs, heading for the kitchen.

"And you can keep that, huh?" Michelle demands, following close after. "You're just gonna pull Rip Hunter out of thin air? _Hm?"_

"Not out of thin air," Michael says, pausing in front of the chalkboard, giving it a once over before continuing his march forward. "Maybe out of _thin chronal space_. Maybe. Not sure. I'll double check with Skeets to see if it's possible. Where'd he go off to, anyway?"

"You know how to deal with chronal space all by yourself now?" Michelle asks critically, folding her arms.

"Yeah," Michael says, opening the nearly bare fridge.

"Since when?" Michelle continues to press.

Michael doesn't even look her way as he grabs a bottle of beer. "Rip taught me."

She watches him carefully for a moment, beginning to go numb toward those pangs of guilt and empathy that had become so prevalent when she was around either Michael or Rani anymore.

"Do you want one?" Michael asks, grabbing at a second beer before closing the door.

"Yeah," she says, though he's already knowingly handing it to her. She looks at the heavy exhaustion over her brother's face as he collapses into one of the remaining chairs. "You okay? How'd it go with Ted?"

"Great. Horrible. I think I threw up on the way back," he sighs, letting his head hang back and his eyes close. "I maybe cried a little? You're officially never allowed to tell anyone though."

"Noted," she says, twisting off the cap of her beer and scooting onto the countertop. "But he's… Everything's good here? In this world, I mean?" She bites her lip. "I'm asking about Ted. I'm. Trying to wrap my mind around it."

"Same," Michael sighs, flipping off the cap of his beer and taking a long drink. He drops the bottle down and wipes his mouth on his sleeve. "I mean. I waited. I read every archive available. I broke into the Justice League and hacked the files to just… just see in case and…"

"Michael," Michelle admonishes in a tone that is _way too mom._

"I had to know. Just to be sure," he argues, sitting straighter so he can stare into her face. "It's him. The real him. He's… he's two and a half years older than he… than he once was. Hung up the suit. Training Jaime _himself._ And…"

Michelle looks worriedly at her brother.

Michael bites his lip. "I think maybe I — _me?_ this me? Myself? — did something stupid, though. Like. He was surprised to see me."

"Surprised to see you? Because you teleported in or because you are on no-speaking terms?" she asks.

"Yes," he answers unhelpfully.

"Mikey," she sighs, exasperated. "We… we really should wait a bit longer. Get this place fixed up, get our bearings. And really… investigate this place. It's not… It's not the way things used to be. And we could still get caught off guard with these things."

"I already agreed to go out," he blurts out. When Michelle looks at him, he eases back some. "Just for drinks. Not… I just. We agreed to see each other again. Soon. And. And I _have_ to, Michelle. I…. Damn, I'm just happy to see him."

Dropping her head, Michelle stares at her lap. She can't help Rani. Michael won't listen. Rip is gone. The entire lab is a disaster. And Michelle is slowly, but surely, losing her sanity.

"I don't want you to ever be hurt like that, Mikey," she says lowly, scratching at a thread on her jeans. "So… so lonely and… miserable… and _mourning._ I don't know if I can pull you through that again." For not the first time that day, warm tears well up in her eyes as she stares helplessly at her knees. "And I don't think… I don't think the change — the universe's _rebirth_ or whatever it is that you said it was… I don't think Rip made it. He's not here to help us anymore, Michael, and I'm _so scared._ "

Silence falls between the twins, but the flow of emotions and tension doesn't move on. It festers as they drink their beers in silence.

So much silence, in fact, that they can hear the tell-tale signs of a teleportation.

They glance back at each other.

"Was that _to_ or _from?"_ Michael asks her wearily.

"There's a different sound for each?" Michelle asks, astonished.

"Check Rani's room," he orders, leaping to his feet and racing toward the lab.

"What? Michael! I mean — _dammit!"_ she curses before leaping to her own feet and racing through the back of the lab.

She's running toward the corridors when a splotch of white not he chalkboard catches her off guard.

Despite herself and her buckets of nerves, she slides to a stop and stares in awe of the writing on the bottom corner of the chalkboard. "Who… Mikey? Did you—"

"It's was a _from_ teleport, Sis! Someone left from here that— Didn't you check Rani's room? _Michelle! Dammit!"_ Michael roars, sounding more Booster Gold than Michael Carter as he flies past her and toward Rani's room.

Michelle looks after him, heart racing. Michael lets out a yell, screaming Rani's name as he comes racing back.

"She's gone! She's teleported out, but why!? Michelle! Are you listening!?"

"I know where she went," Michelle says, pointing at the chalkboard as her brother points beside her.

"What the hell? Is that… is that _Rip's_ writing? No… Who…" Michael says, glancing around.

But Michelle is still staring at the words on the chalkboard.

 _Ted Kord is KEY._


	3. Little Girl Lost

So look. First of all, I apologize to everyone who were looking forward to this fic before I took a very long hiatus this year. It's a weird journey to go over, but basically I became a public school teacher and got a job in the middle of this year and the time flew by _very_ fast. Ironically.

Does that mean I want to leave you guys hanging for months like that again? No, but stuff does happen. I'm trying to use my winter break to write as much as possible while still getting stuff ready for my kiddos, but priorities will lie where they lie and I'm sorry if that means leaving you hanging again. I totally get if you want to check out until the final update so that you can read the whole fic. Hopefully I'll plan out better and write it all before posting to start with. So hindsight is…. 2020 you might say.

Special thanks to fred-astairs-dark-impulses, shibascarf, mcbangle, spiralcass, sinkburrito, secretlystephaniebrown, starchaser22. doingsuper, Ithildyn and ivettxwrites for the support and kind words! That means so much to me, and I cannot apologize enough for being one of THOSE fanfic writers which I most certainly am and leaving you hanging for so long.

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter Three: Little Girl Lost

Rani doesn't necessarily intend to go against Michael and Michelle's attempts to get her to sleep. Sometimes, things simply _happen_ and there is no stopping it.

For Rani, it's the need to make certain her adopted family — her _new_ and most _recent_ adopted family, that is — are still safe, alive, and not leaving her alone again that she cannot stop.

With her eyes only closed for a moment or two after hitting her pillow, Rani springs awake, ignores the colorfully decorated bedroom that is exclusively hers, and barrels out without so much as slippers on her feet.

Huffing and puffing, Rani races down the corridor toward the laboratory and kitchen of Time Lab. She only slows to a stop once reaching the disarray of the laboratory and overhearing the close by sounds of Michael and Michelle talking to one another.

Her heart races despite the calming assurance that she's not alone. There should be _three_ adults in their home instead of only two, and that causes a pang in her chest she barely knows what to do with.

Taking a deep breath, Rani glances around to the broken up laboratory and thinks about how upset poor Boppy would be if he was still around.

Rani bites her bottom lip until it hurts. She _hates_ thinking of Poppy in the past tense. She _hates_ it. And she can't stop it.

She has played this game too many times before already despite being so young.

"Rani. I don't believe you should be wandering around the laboratory. It is still a danger zone for the time being," the familiar drone of Skeets comes as the tiny bot flies into her vicinity.

Looking to the golden sheen of Michael's trusty assistant, Rani can't help but feel that _something_ is off. Something more than usual for Time Lab.

"Skeets, would you know if Boppy came back?" she asks.

"Doctor Hunter would likely make himself known to us if and when the time was right for his return," the robot answers methodically.

Rani's brows knit together. "So… you _can't_ do it?"

"That is not what I said," he answers without answering anything at all.

Biting her lip once again, only now more in thought than in anxiety, Rani thinks about Boppy — _Rip_ — and how he would make himself known.

With a slight hum in her throat, Rani walks past Skeets and makes her way to the large chalkboard still standing amongst the ruins of the Time Lab. She reaches the board quickly and begins scanning the blank slate for any signs of change — any at all. Her eyes fall, rather quickly, to the bottom right corner where a scribbled message causes her heart to race again. This time not in fear or worry, but in precious joy and excitement.

"Boppy!" she barely musters over her own gasp as she reaches for the board and touches it cautiously with the tips of her fingers.

 _Ted Kord is the key._

A chill runs down Rani's spine, a thrill overcomes her pattering heart.

"Boppy wanted me to know…" she surmises. Her eyes squint in thought. It _is_ her corner of the board, where she has been caught a few times sketching unicorns and butterflies. For Boppy to write _there_ out of _all_ the space on the board, surely means the message is for her and her alone in that moment.

And Ted Kord. That is not any name, that is someone very important and special. He is Michael's most important friend, the one he talks about in his biggest and wildest stories to Rani, and the person whose name comes up the most often in the history books when she searches for information about her dear Mikey.

Rani thinks, just maybe, she understands what she needs to do. And for the first time since the _big explosion,_ Rani feels calm and excited. She has a direction to go in and it means all the world to her.

It probably means the _whole universe_ if it's important enough for Boppy to leave it on the board for her.

"I should immediately tell Booster about this!" Skeets determines in a flurry, beginning to zip off.

He doesn't make it far in the direction of the kitchen, however, because once he sees that Rani is going deeper into the lab, he changes course.

"Rani! Please, the laboratory is still very dangerous. We haven't gotten very far in the cleaning process so… Rani. Rani! Michael would not be happy with this. Please return."

For the first time, Rani thinks she might understand why Michael ignores so much of what Skeets says.

"It's not a message for Mikey," she informs the robot with a prideful huff. "It's for me. Boppy wanted me to do something so that's what I'm doing."

"Whatever this is, I believe it is a terrible idea," Skeets announces.

Despite her near constant quivering and skittish nature after the explosion of the Flashpoint, Rani _is_ constantly aware of her adopted family around her. As much help as she isn't in the cleaning and retrieving process, she knows that there are several things Michelle and Mikey have yet to contain.

Like the wormhole in the cupboard.

Rani's knowledge of theoretical physics was far less than her knowledge about every episode of Zoo Crew Michael had gotten her on DVD. But she _did_ know that one time, while working on the time sphere with Michael, Boppy had shaken a wrench and talked about using wormholes for transport.

And what did Michael and Michelle use to leave the Time Lab when they needed to? _Transport._

It only makes sense. Even to her under ten mind.

"Rani," Skeets is beginning to wind up into yet another speech just as Rani's fingers brushed the steel frame of the cupboard.

"It's okay, Skeets," Rani assures the robot as she opens the door. "Mikey said it would be okay."

"That is not quite reassuring," the robot retorts just as they enter into the whitish glow.

Skeets, unfortunately, is wise beyond his years as it turns out.

Rani feels a pressure build up against her body the moment the light engulfs her. It's pressing on her, stopping her body from breathing or screaming, compacting her, squeezing her. She immediately feels blood flushing to her face, heating up and making her eyes swim in their sockets as tears begin rolling out.

This isn't even _close_ to what she had been expecting when it came to transport and wormholes. Mikey and Michelle never mentioned it.

"Rani!" Skeets' electronic voice carries, even as Rani's ears pop with the pressure.

It's hard to see with the blurring whiteness, but soon the golden swatch of Skeets is upon her. A silver arm extends out from a slot on his underside and Skeets begins reaching out.

The pressure feels like it is building up behind Rani's nose and into her mouth, but she focuses _just enough_ to reach out and be snatched by Skeets' extended hand.

The moment they connect and make contact, the whirling of the wormhole around them comes to a stop.

All the pressure that had built up against Rani releases with a terrifying _POP_ and she not only _can_ scream, but she can _hear_ herself scream as her butt hits a cold concrete floor and slides to a stop.

She's shaking uncontrollably and her scream is cut short into an unexpected but high pitched wail.

Even with daylight filtering into the room she is in and bulbs on overhead, the new place Rani is in might as well as be a pit with the sudden change from the wormhole's eerie glow.

Her body is no longer pushing against itself or into places, it feels like jello against her bones, and if it weren't for Skeets actively holding onto her wrist she might have already collapsed.

All in all, the transport may have taken five seconds. Perhaps not even that.

Rani huffs and chokes on air as her vision adjusts. She knows she's in a new place, she knows that her transportation experience is over, but everything else is a painful and terrifying reality.

Skeets lowers his hovering and comes close to her line of sight.

"I apologize, Rani," Skeets says in his familiar robotic tone. "Transporting is not easy on smaller bodies like yours and mine. And without a direct destination somehow directed to it, it can take longer than expected. I am sure with your claustrophobia and neuroticism about destructive forces this was not an easy or simple journey—"

Not even waiting for the tiny robot to finish, Rani flings her arms around his metallic body and draws him in for a a calming hug. She feels his cool siding against her cheek and catches her breath finally.

Skeets seems to sputter in place for a moment, a whirring noise coming from his internal gadgetry.

Then, affectionately, the same metallic clamp that had held Rani by the arm before pats her back.

There is calm between them, if only for a moment.

It ends when a heavy door pushes against its hinges and hit the metal walls on the other side of the room they're in. The lights immediately turn on, heavy and loud, as a man's voice carries.

"No, I'm telling you, it was _weird,"_ the voice says as boots walk across the concrete floor. "How weird? I don't know, Bea, weird enough for me to call you and ask about it."

The hairs on Rani's neck prickle and she looks wide eyed into the direction of the noise as she lets go of Skeets. Her heart picks up even more from its already frantic pace as she sees the daunting shadow of the man walking across the room. It has been a _very_ long time since she has been this close to anyone who wasn't Mikey, Michelle, or Boppy. And the last one had been a Nazi, which means _super duper bad person_ from her understanding.

Her regrets of leaving are building up rather quickly.

"No, I don't know how you can get a hold of him, it's just… I'm worried. And…" The man stops and stares right at her and Skeets.

He's not a tall man compared to everyone else in the Time Lab. Not short like she is, but not as tall. His hair is a mousy brown, sticking up in several places but especially underneath the yellow goggles on his head and over his ears in a way that reminds Rani of Boppy just a bit. His face is full of expression, big eyes and a roundness to his cheeks that makes Rani want to see him smile.

And every wrinkle on his forehead is gaining length as his eyebrows race quicker to his hairline.

"Hey, uh, I've gotta go," the man says into the phone pressed to his head. "Yeah, I know it's sudden. But there's like…. A child in my lab. And I'm mildly freaking out about how weird my day is. Tell Tora I said hi."

After a moment, the phone pressed against the side of the man's head stops glowing and he's left in place with a paper bag that smells _much_ better than Mikey's cooking in the other.

"Okay," the man says, taking a deep breath, "strange child staring at me in my lab not saying a word…"

"Skeets?" Rani whispers, turning her head ever so slightly toward the robot without taking her eyes off the man.

Skeets whirs in that happy way that seems like a recorder starting before circling in the air once and making it to Rani's other side. "Rani, this is Theodore Kord, formerly known as the Blue Beetle. He is the CEO and prime technologist of Kord Industries, begun by—"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" the man calls out, holding out his hands with as many fingers as he can spare extended. "First of all: _Skeets?_ What the hell? I just saw you. Second of all: _ixnay onyay ethay eetlebay, okayay?_ " He then lowers his hands as he shifts toward looking squarely at Rani once again. "Of all the third: …hey? Are you okay? You uhh… seem to be a child in my super unsafe and barely halfway managed laboratory. Which is probably as new for you as it is for me."

Rani, finally catching her breath, pushes up from the floor. The wheels are turning in her head as she holds the gaze of this mystery man. "Blue Beetle…" she gaps in wonder.

He lets out a grunt of frustration and glances at Skeets. "Now, see? You've doxxed me, Skeets!"

"It is not a difficult task, Mister Kord," Skeets retorts shortly.

"Well, I went to a Big Belly Burger dressed like this, so I see your point! BWAH HA HA HA! _"_

Rani is unsure of herself and concerned until that _laughter_ hits the air.

It's not like any laugh she's heard before, like a rumbling explosion from deep inside someone. The kind of laughter that can't _wait_ to escape someone and infect everyone around them.

One time, while tucking her in, Mikey had told Rani that his best friend Ted had the greatest laugh in the whole world.

And, now, Rani is _hearing_ it.

"Ted Kord is _KEY!_ " she remembers the message out loud.

The former Blue Beetle abruptly ends his rumbling laugh and glances toward Rani curiously. "I'm what? OOF!"

Ted's question is barely out of his mouth before Rani is crashing into his waist, wrapping herself around him tight and squeezing with all her might. It's the kind of hug Mikey gives her, and she hopes Ted Kord can tell it. The confusion in his utterances suggests that he probably can't tell.

"Okay, help me out here, Skeets, I'm mildly freaking out," Ted says.

"Thank you, Mister Kord," Rani says with jubilation. "Thank you for having the best laugh in the _whole world,_ and being the _bravest man,_ and for being Mikey's bestest friend ever!"

"I guess this is where I say… _you're welcome?_ And then ask you your name or something," Ted responds.

Looking up, smiling the best she can, Rani answers, "I'm Rani."

"You're Rani," Ted repeats. Suddenly, there's a glint in his eyes and he sets his bag and his phone down on the floor behind him. "Rani… Rani… Booster's _appointment_ or whatever earlier. And you're with Skeets. Who is not being helpful whatsoever, by the by."

"I apologize, Mister Kord, but I am limited by the… _uncertainty_ of many factors currently," Skeets admitted. "I do not believe Booster Gold has tested the effects of this meeting yet."

Ted's brows squeeze together, causing worry lines to surface on his forehead. " _Tested?_ Booster? I didn't even think he tested the products he shilled for." He then puts a steady hand on the top of Rani's head. "And _you,_ pipsqueak—"

"I'm Rani," she reminds him firmly.

"I've never heard of you before. What're you doing hanging around with Booster?"

Rani blinks through her confusion. It's such a _strange_ question. And certainly nothing close to what she has thought of before. She's with Booster and at Time Lab because… Isn't that where she belongs now? With no planet and no adopted family and no—

Her breath catches in her throat and she's shaking slightly. She catches herself doing it, but she can't stop it.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Ted says, lowering down to one knee in front of her and getting to her level. His jovial face is all scrunched up in concern now. "Calm down there, kiddo. I didn't mean to get you worked up."

"I am afraid she has been through a lot, Mister Kord," Skeets excuses.

"Apparently," Ted says, a tinge of _something_ more scrutinizing and suspicious in the corner of his eye.

Taking a deep breath, Rani grabs hold of Ted's shoulder. When he looks her in the eyes, Rani says gently, "Mikey takes care of me. And… I take care of him."

Ted looks her over before offering a soft and genuine smile. "Sounds like tough work," he says solemnly. "But you seem pretty tough."

Rani considers the ways her teeth chatter and her heart races and her chest tightens so much and so hard. And she thinks that _tough_ is like Boppy or Mikey saving the day or Michelle defending their home. "Really?" she questions.

"Absolutely," Ted says. "If you're looking for Booster, Skeets should've told you that you're late by quite a bit."

Warmth spreads through Rani's chest and she feels her shoulders roll back more confidently than they've been in a while. She _is_ pretty tough when she thinks about it.

"Say, I actually ran through this grease bucket called Big Belly Burger to get the fries with Booster's stupid pretty face on it," Ted jokes, throwing a thumb back toward the brown paper bag. "A joke for… whenever he gets back here. I can't eat that kind of stuff anymore… but something tells me if you're hanging out with Booster he's put you on a strict diet of _whatever your adorable face asks_ or something." He pauses for Rani's giggles and, with a soft smile, adds, "So do you want something to eat?"

"I didn't know Mikey was on food…" Rani admits, grabbing for the bag as Ted Kord offers them to her.

"Wow, I feel like that's the only thing most people _do_ know about him!" Ted laughs at the irony. "For a good minute there, it felt like it was the only thing _I_ knew about him, too."

Rani downs the fries quicker than even she expected. They're greasy and gross like a _lot_ of the food from this century that Mikey complains about. But that's also kind of _good_ about it in a way.

By the time she's licking her fingers, Ted is on some strange, boxy device, fiddling with the buttons and lights on it.

"What's that?" she asks.

"My Justice League communicator. The old version," he admits. "I'm trying to get a hold of Booster and… uh… figure things out."

Confused herself, Rani tilts her head. "But why don't you know already, Ted Kord?" she asks him suspiciously. "You're supposed to be the key!"

"To what?" he asks right back, looking up from the communicator with a brow on high alert. "And what do you mean by this key stuff anyway? Is that something Booster said to you?"

"No, it's on Boppy's board," she answers firmly.

"Caution, Rani," Skeets chides, floating in on the conversation. "You must remember the rules. Who _knows_ what dangers can be unleashed on all of reality by testing them."

With a gasp, Rani claps her greasy fingers over her mouth.

"Hey, now, that's a _lot_ of pressure to put on a kid, Skeets," Ted argues. "And what are you even going on about?"

Uncertain of what to say back, Rani bites on her bottom lip and looks at Skeets. But the robot does not seem to be all that concerned about answering.

"It will be best if we wait for Booster Gold to answer," Skeets assures her instead.

"I hope he brings drinks like we promised," Ted mutters with a roll of his eyes. "After all this excitement today I feel like I earned it."

Rani's tiny heart races in her chest for a moment, regret and worry building up as If she had been taking stock for her anxiety to unleash in that moment. Boppy left her his message, she _is_ doing the right thing. _Right?_

The excitement in her frame doesn't have time to subside, however, as a large boom and flash occur in the same room as them.

Ted covers his eyes and tries to turn in the direction of the excitement. "Booster?" he calls out.

"For the good of all reality," a booming, yet hauntingly familiar voice calls from the light as it dulls around them, "and for the survival of the multiverse…"

Once the light is dulled significantly, Rani blinks and can make out the slick black armor of the tall and imposing man across the room from them. And, more importantly, she can make out the shape and direction of the gun he is holding as well.

"Oh, fu—" Ted says, getting to his feet.

"… Ted Kord, you _must_ die!" Black Beetle snarls before pulling the trigger.


	4. Booster Gold

Haha! How's that for an improved rate for chapter turn arounds! I don't know if I can manage it weekly, but boy wouldn't that be nice. All things considering.

And lovely and well deserved thanks to mcbangle, shibascarf, secretlystephaniebrown, AlreadyThere, and Schwoo99 for your lovely feedback and support! It's greatly appreciated.

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter Four: Booster Gold

It was already a hell of a day by the time Booster finds himself racing throughout the busted up laboratory in search for Rani. He is in an all around bad mood, conflicted and somewhat wounded with old pains and traumas licking at his heels thanks to the conversation with Ted.

Then Rani — sweet, terrified, _all his fault_ Rani — is gone. And there's only an open wormhole leftover in the cabinet to clue him into what's going on.

Using the Legionnaire flight ring, Booster kicks off the ground and zips back to where Michelle is standing by the lab command center. She's looking a little shellshocked but Booster absolutely does _not_ have time for that.

"She's gone!" he yells at his sister instead. "She's teleported out, but _why!?"_ When that fails to draw Michelle's attention, Booster comes to a hovering stop by her and stares in disbelief. "Michelle!" he snaps in imitation. "Are you listening!?"

Without turning toward him, Michelle says, "I know where she went." Her hand draws up and points toward the chalkboard.

Not even fully listening to Michelle, Booster follows her gaze to the board and feels himself go slightly off balance. If he hadn't been using the flight ring, he might've ended up on the floor sideways from the knock to his teeth.

On Rip's meticulously kept chalkboard is a newly etched message that Booster knows for a _fact_ was not there even earlier that day when he got back.

 _Ted Kord is KEY._

"What the hell?" Booster articulates first. Then, with a slight pang, he recognizes something even more pressing about the message. "Is that… is that _Rip's_ writing? No… Who…" he rambles out loud before glancing around the lab.

Half of him wants to accuse Rip Hunter of hiding in the shadows, of playing some kind of joke wrapped up in the 4D Chess he has been doing since he first met Booster. But there is nothing to see. There's no one but them. Only Michael and Michelle.

Which begs another question.

"Skeets?" Booster calls out to no avail.

"Rani is looking for Rip. She sees a message from Rip. She takes the message and runs with it before thinking things through," Michelle deduces. She then gives Booster and accusatory stare. "Wonder where she picks that up from?"

"I need to get to Ted's, get Rani, put out any fires…" Booster lists off, already on his way to the transmat.

"Would you hold your horses?" Michelle demands. "I'll put on my Goldstar suit and we'll go together. I _don't like_ how this feels, Michael—"

"I've got this," Booster doesn't so much as _argue_ as he is concluding the conversation.

"Jesus Christ what did I _just_ say about running into things without thinking them through?" Michelle yells as she takes off running toward her room.

"No time for thinking!" Booster yells back, already beginning to transport. "The multiverse is colliding together because my daughter and my best friend are meeting each other!"

Michelle apparently has no comeback because rather than screaming it, Booster only hears a frustrated roar that he is far more familiar with than he should be.

In Booster's mind, the worst case scenario is already upon him. Rani, freaking out and distressed, huddled in a corner while Ted, freaking out and distressed, is calling up whatever passes for social services among the Justice League. Someone will ask questions, take records, and Rani is suddenly on the map for _some_ sort of time traveling ne'er-do-well to get at _Booster_ if they want to. And he'll lose Rani out of the great wide nothing just like he lost Rip—

Booster does his best to turn the alarms in his brain from an eleven to about a _nine_ and thinks what complications this means for him and Ted.

Things are already complicated, Booster was hoping to go over some script or _something_ with Michelle before hanging out with Ted again. How many things can he share? How much can Ted even be expected to _believe?_ And how in the world is Ted going to forgive him for being a different person without any of the _years_ and _years_ of context that is suddenly missing between them?

How can Booster resist his instinct to constantly screw things up with the two people, at the moment, he cares about the most in terms of _not getting screwed over?_

It seems like a tall order, and before he touches foot in Ted's lab again, he's certain there's a mix of these two things that will be his worst case scenario.

That is, until the reality smacks him in the face with _a whole lot worse._

Black Beetle — his seemingly nameless and faceless enemy throughout the time stream — is standing in Ted's laboratory. And worse yet, he is doing so with a gun _much_ more serious than Ted's old BB gun, right at Ted's head. And Ted, for his part, seems genuinely stunned.

"Ted Kord," Black Beetle snarls, "you _must_ die!"

"NO!" Booster screams, the sound ripping through his throat from the core of his being.

He's in the air and barreling toward Black Beetle before it even registers that Ted has leaped into action, grabbing Rani and rolling behind the desk. It's a close call and Booster can only begin to thank his stars that Ted really _is_ the Ted of his memories, but there's not time to dwell.

"Get the _hell_ away from them!" Booster roars as he connects his forcefield protected knuckles with the side of Black Beetle's armored head.

Even with his field up, Booster feels the hit in the bones of his fist. There's something _harder_ to Black Beetle than the last time they fought. Which, Booster has to admit to himself, is not a good sign for him.

"Booster Gold," Black Beetle snaps angrily, catching the second fist Booster throws at him. "I am surprised by your resilience."

"By now you _really_ shouldn't be," Booster growls back. He aims for the unarmored mouth on Black Beetle only to be caught a second time.

"After our last _Beetle_ adventures, I had thought you had your _fill_ of failing to save your friend from death," Black Beetle hisses. Then, without warning, his head comes jutting forward, breaking through the field around Booster's body with speed and precision to land a perfect headbutt for Booster's nose. "But apparently your masochism is greater than that of the average fool."

Dazed, Booster backs away with his hands released and instinctively reaches for his nose. _Definitely_ broken, _definitely_ gushing blood — but he doesn't have the time for it because Black Beetle is already coming back at him.

Gritting his teeth, Booster directs the field shields to his left side and successfully deflects the incoming right hook. It gives him enough time to spit out a mouthful of blood and course correct. He needs some distance, maybe use a concussive blast to further to swing it.

He doesn't get the time _or_ the distance, however, as the Black Beetle armor produces a clawing arm-like extension which grabs Booster at the waist and clamps down, hard.

"Booster!" Ted yells.

"Mikey!" Rani screeches.

A quick panic tears its way through Booster and he glances wildly in the direction of the two voices. His fingers are still grappling with the claws of Black Beetle but his attention is fully on Ted and Rani — they are too close to all of this! Booster has to get Black Beetle away from them and do it _fast._

"Stay down! Both of you!" Booster yells at them just before Black Beetle slams him headlong into the Bug.

"I have lost my patience for your _persistent meddling!"_ Black Beetle snarls. "I _will_ set all things right today! I _will_ see to it that any anomalies for the time stream are destroyed! And I will _enjoy_ listening to your pathetic _screams_ as you know that you still are powerless to do a thing!"

Booster has literal stars in his vision once the dark clad time traveler drops him on the ground. His neck aches and he can feel the wheeze of air pushing back into his lungs. He _knows_ he has to get back up, though, or else _someone_ is going to do _something_ stupid.

"I've had about _enough_ of this!" Ted growls.

"Oh, no," Booster says, smacking himself in the head to try to clear his vision quicker.

"Sir!" Skeets buzzes in front of him.

"Skeets! Save Ted! Rani! Anyone! Fuck!" Booster orders, pushing to his feet and seeing where Ted was.

Ted has already slid over the top of his desk, goggles on and pulled out some sort of large canon looking device with a fanned out disk at its front. When Black Beetle immediately shoots for the in-the-open Ted, the reply is given in kind by the strange device which showered the entire room with an immense white light.

"Solar gun kinetic converter!" Ted preens, even as the blowback sends him to the ground. He coughs. "Has a kick, but anything you throw at _me,_ this baby will convert into a concussive blast and hit _brighter!"_

Booster smirks and pushes off from the ground in order to boost his launch speed as he hurled himself at Black Beetle.

The light flash from Ted's machine has put the Black Beetle off balance enough for Booster to throw himself into and shove the man out toward the door and into the hall, _out_ the tenth floor window.

As soon as Black Beetle crashes through the glass, Booster firmly digs his heels into the ground and skids to a halt just short of heading out himself. He releases a long sigh of relief as he actually does seem to have gotten ahead.

Unfortunately, Black Beetle's armor seems to remember it has flight capabilities _much_ faster than Booster did.

"Damn it," Booster hisses, looking over his shoulder and realizing that Ted is rushing his way and Rani has crawled out from under Ted's desk to get a better look. "Skeets! Get her down!"

The tiny robot is quick to listen, and Booster barking orders at all seems to make Ted take pause, but not before the shadow of Black Beetle hovering outside eclipses them both.

Booster locks eyes with Ted and feels that ever present twinge of guilt and horror that has lived with him for nearly five years at this point.

"Ted! Down!" Booster yells.

But it isn't like before. There i _s_ action that Booster can take.

Thinking on his feet, Booster projects his forcefield onto Ted. It encloses the semi-retired Blue Beetle in an oval dome before moving along with Booster as they flew toward the laboratory.

"Are you going to explain _anything_ that's happening to me?" Ted demands as they land in relative safety from their attacker.

"Later over beer if we make it," Booster promises wearily.

For a brief moment, Ted looks in Booster's direction. He's only nodding along to Booster's words and yet, as he does so, Booster sees a trust and security from Ted that warms something deep inside of him. It's been so long since they were doing this, side by side, both in the exact same moment.

Both trusting each other because… as long as they're Blue and Gold they're bound to win. Somehow. Some _ridiculous_ fashion.

It's all Booster can do to take a breath and feel confident that it's going to be okay.

Just before he loses Ted's gaze. Ted's looking back in the direction of Black Beetle and his body immediately seizes in tension.

"Round Three!" Ted yells in warning.

Booster raises his guard and steels himself, but he already knows his main objective.

Skeets has Rani. Booster has Ted guarded with every ounce of reserve power his suit has.

Whatever comes next is going to hurt.

Black Beetle flies at Booster like a bat out of hell, crashing into him and the Bug once more. The metal surface crushes in around Booster as a result of the impact. Booster feels the air pushed out of his lungs but he refuses to think about it, instead punching as much as he can right for Black Beetle's _big dumb jaw._

Some hits land, but the momentum is working against Booster as he feels a pop in his shoulder against the grinding metal of the bug.

"You have _no_ concept of the danger you're in!" Black Beetle snarls, grabbing Booster's shoulders and flying with him to the floor.

They crash into the cement, Booster first yet again, but this time Booster can get a footing. He kicks off the pavement and plants his feet right for Black Beetle's crotch.

Even armored, the villain juts away on instinct, which gives Booster time use a concussive blast. He can only lift his left arm, but it's enough to give space between them.

It's not _enough._ Black Beetle is ready to go before Booster's even caught his breath.

Fortunately, there is a _boom_ followed by the cracking and folding of metal all around them.

Booster lifts up his head to get a good view as Michelle uses her magnetic fields to crush what's left of the Bug and the surrounding loose metal and bring it down on the Beetle's head.

"Get away from my brother!" she yells.

Taken by surprise, Beetle is brought down, the crushing weight growing the longer Michelle levies her magnetism on him. "Damn you, Carters, no!" he roars, reaching with his loosest hand toward the chest piece of his suit. "This is _not_ over!"

With a similar _BOOM_ and spectacle, the Beetle is gone, and all the metal and electronics in the area around him fall in a heap to the ground.

"Heard… _that_ before," Booster musters, pushing to his feet. His ankle twists in a wrong way and he collides with the floor. His unresponsive arm does nothing to brace for the fall.

"Michael!" Michelle yells.

"Booster!" Ted yells right along with her.

And just before he passes out, Booster thinks how unexpected and _wonderful_ it feels to hear both of their voices at once.


	5. Ted Kord

I love writing character dialogue so I let this one get away from me but, hopefully, you all will be understanding lol

And of course a wonderful thanks to spiralcass, secretlystephaniebrown, babybatbrat, mcbangle, shibascarf, and tardigradetheking for your lovely feedback and support!

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter Five: Ted Kord

Ted is concerned about Booster's condition _long_ before he lands chin first into the concrete.

All the teams and all the fights that they had been through together over the years had shown Ted that Booster is as capable of taking a beating as any other hero. But there was intimate _brutality_ to the fight between Ted's mysterious attacker and Booster Gold that left far more questions than there are currently answers.

Of course, Booster's fall is a helpful kick into high gear for switching between _fight_ mode to _oh shit_ mode.

Even though Ted is closer, he reaches the unconscious Booster's side at nearly the same time as Michelle.

As if _that_ isn't weird enough on its own.

Without hesitation, Ted begins checking vitals and timing Booster's pulse. The swelling and bruising are already looking nasty beneath the splattering of blood from Booster's cuts and nose.

"Oh my god, can we move him?" Michelle asks, clear panic in her voice.

"Yeah, carefully," Ted answers, using a momentarily free hand to point toward the steel locker by his desk. "I stocked a stretcher in the first aid cabinet. If we're getting him out of here without messing with his neck then _that's_ going to be our biggest help."

"I'm on it!" she yells, propelling from the floor and straight to the cabinet. She is back in the blink of an eye. "Tell me what to do."

"Okay, when I say so, let's lift him up just enough to slide the stretcher over and —" he catches himself in the moment and then looks at Michelle curiously, "We have somewhere to take him, right? I'd say a hospital but—"

" _No,_ we've got somewhere that Black Beetle shouldn't be able to follow us," she immediately replies. "Um. Hopefully. It's the first time I've been in charge of moving places and cloaking us without…" Michelle shakes her head violently and then looks back at Ted with fiery confidence in her eyes. "We've got somewhere. If Skeets can help out with the transport."

"Of course, Michelle!" the robotic voice drones.

Ted glances up and sees Skeets. The robot has an appendage out from his compact body and is using it to rather securely hold the wrist of the little girl from before. The girl has her free handheld tightly over her eyes, two clear streams of ongoing tears crossing her cheek as she breathes unevenly.

There is still _so much_ that Ted can't even comprehend enough to ask proper questions about, but he focuses and compartmentalizes as best he can be given the circumstances. Later. There _has_ to be a later.

And beer. God, is he going to make Booster hold up his end of the deal so far as the beer is concerned.

Securing Booster's neck and then securely taking hold of his shoulders, Ted takes a deep breath and looks to Michelle. "Okay, if you can get his legs, lift on three."

Quickly, Michelle gets hold of her brother at his knees. "Ready!"

"One, two, _three,"_ Ted presses, lifting Booster's limp body up and using his foot to slide the stretcher closer to position before they lower him again. Booster is a _lot_ heavier than the last time Ted can remember having to carry him — and it's all hard muscle. Which is definitely _something_ considering that Booster was never one to lack tone, to begin with.

The jarring of Booster's body elicits a low, throaty groan from him, but it is only momentary. He is still completely out when Ted reaches up and brushes back blonde hair to feel and better see Booster's forehead and face.

The adrenaline is wearing thin and the horrors and near-missesof everything are starting to catch up with Ted. His chest feels tight and on fire.

"I am going to transport all of us to Time Lab, but it will require some calculation considering the relative size of our party compared to… the limited surface area available at the moment," Skeets announces.

"Just do it, Skeets!" Michelle begs.

Ted takes another moment to look her over and can't help the commentary he has been holding back.

"Hey, so, fancy seeing you here," he says. Michelle looks to Ted's face, curious where this is leading. "Haven't seen you since your funeral. You look good."

"Thanks. Haven't seen you since yours," Michelle counters quickly.

Blinking with surprise, Ted turns his head slightly but any verbal response is cut off by the winding up and _BOOM_ of their transportation, followed by the bodily jerk of material displacement and replacement.

They go from Ted's utterly destroyed personal lab… To something that looks to be in a fairly similar state.

"You have a laboratory?" he asks, taken aback. "What does _Booster_ need with a laboratory? The closest I've seen him to 'experimenting' is whatever he put together from the fridge's leftovers."

"This laboratory and compound are originally the property and creation of Doctor Rip Hunter," Skeets' voice offers as the robot flies past them.

And _that_ is a name which Ted has not heard from in a while. It's enough to make him take pause just before helping Michelle lift Booster's stretcher. He's still trying to put in place the variables he knows together but the time travelers just keep throwing new ones at him.

Figures.

Realizing he has _no_ concept of where he's going, Ted gives Michelle a look. "Uh, where's a good place to—"

"Michael's bedroom is down the hall, but the living room's closer if you think a couch could work," Michelle answers.

"Yeah, closer the better," Ted agrees before allowing Michelle to lead the way.

He continues thinking — medical supplies to list out for them, monitoring his swears for the literal child present, concerns about the safety of this lab both from its broken nature _and_ the transporting assassin after him, so on and so forth. But some things are drawing together.

"So… Michael lives with Rip Hunter… in a laboratory where he can… transport places and fight with guys infringing on my copyright," Ted puts together as they reach the couch.

"Among other things," Michelle says almost cryptically.

They slide Booster onto the couch and the failed attempt at conversation gets shelved. There's pressing matters — all that other stuff on Ted's mind.

Ted immediately checks on Booster's neck. He didn't like the way Booster's head hit the ground, let alone the other times he crashed headfirst into the Bug. Or any walls. Or the Bug again. And the bruising was already purpling. Maybe there _is_ a stake when being fashion-forward because Ted can't imagine that the popped up collar would have let Booster's neck jerk in that fashion.

The thought crosses his mind so naturally that he almost doesn't question it, just smirks to himself in amusement. But then Ted _does_ think about it.

When did Booster ever have a popped collar? Why is he thinking about that? How bizarre…

"I'm going to need some supplies—" Ted begins to say.

"I'll get them," Michelle answers, getting to her feet.

"Do you need me to tell you what we need?" Ted asks as she leaves the room.

"I've got a good handle on what we're going to need, Ted," she replies before disappearing out into the rest of the lab.

Ted's at a loss for words by the time Michelle gets back and they get to work taking care of the immediate stuff. A neck brace, ankle bandaged and up, a few scrapes closed up, a few scrapes _stitched_ up. Cutting off the tethers of Booster's ruined suit, the works.

It's no Doomsday fight — which, Ted reminds himself, they weren't there for, were they? — but this Black Beetle really did a number in a short amount of time.

It almost makes Ted question how badly he would be looking if Booster hadn't shown up at the right time and place. He's not sure he would like the answer, especially after Michelle's commentary about funerals.

"That's the most immediate stuff," Ted says, spooling leftover suture. "But, uh, if I still know Booster—"

"You do," Michelle says almost fondly.

"Right," Ted answers awkwardly before coughing into his fist and looking back at her. "Well, he's going to have a lot of complaints if his nose is crooked when he wakes up."

Michelle throws her head back and laughs. "Oh, _yeah._ Definitely."

Ted waves to Booster's face. "You want the honors?"

"Please," Michelle continues laughing, shaking her head. "I am but a lowly twin sister. I mess that up and it will never be forgiven. I'll hear about it forever."

"What, and I _won't?"_ Ted asks, already changing out his dirty gloves for a new set.

"He's going to be so happy to see you when he wakes up that I think you could probably get away with a lot more than a crooked nose," Michelle says warmly.

Slowly, Ted frowns as he examines his gloves. So many variables. More every minute. But they're beginning to get distracting.

Almost as distracting as the fact that he hasn't talked to his best friend in _years_ , and the first day they're back in each other's orbit, everything goes to hell in a handbasket _and_ Ted almost has to watch Booster die.

Some things just can't be ignored any further.

"Listen, I'm playing along with this because, even if I've not been in a suit myself for a while, I'm familiar with how this hero game goes," Ted says lowly. "Prioritize _then_ summarize. I'm not even expecting to walk away today knowing half the stuff I probably need to. But I think… I think I need to know _something_ that's going on. Because I almost watched my best friend die today, and that only happened because I was almost _killed."_

Michelle stares at him for a moment, looking genuinely sympathetic. "I'll be honest, Ted," she says, finding a seat on the coffee table just behind him, "I'm not sure what I can say and what I can't. Booster and I were trying to figure that out already before… Well, before all of _this_ happened and left us ungrounded."

Ted furrowed his brow. "So, what? Just trying to figure out if It's worth telling me the sister I went to a funeral for was actually alive? That there was a reason I haven't heard a peep in years? That he has a _kid_ — and, by the by, _Jesus_ Booster has a _kid?"_

"Hey! It's all a lot more complicated than just not telling you things," Michelle argues.

"You told me you went to _my_ funeral," Ted points out. "I'd like _that_ implication ironed out. Please and thanks."

Michelle blinks in surprise, putting a hand to her chest. "Oh. Did I say that? That is… almost _exactly_ the thing that Mikey would have preferred to put on the back burner."

"Oh, great," Ted sarcastically spits back. "That's good to know."

"No! I mean. Oh, shoot, I'm…" Michelle takes a breath and pinches her nose. "Dammit, Carter temper!" She then looks at Ted apologetically. "What I'm trying to say is, first off, I'm sorry if I've been. Um. Short with you. It's just that… Michael's literally the last person I have left who's family. Hell, who's known I've been alive for the past few years. With Rip gone and Rani still so young… All I've got is Michael. And he's being…"

"Booster," Ted offers.

" _Exactly,"_ she yells, throwing her hands up. "Idiot! He's got all this shit he's in charge of and all these people counting on him and he goes up against Black Beetle with his force field projected onto someone else."

Ted flinches at that. "Me."

"Well, yeah," Michelle groans, rubbing her face. "Big dummy. Big _idiot._ God. I hate how stupid he is sometimes."

"Yeah," Ted utters, glancing back at Booster. "Well. He saved me with it this time. And most of the other times it involved pranks I initiated. And I _guess_ he's the dumbest when it comes to having a big heart about stuff. Maybe. Actually some of the things with making money, we were also pretty dumb about. But in _general,_ it's the big-hearted stuff."

He trails off in thought, realizing his grin is one he hasn't worn in quite a while. His ears heat up, no doubt turning an awful shade of red, and Ted ducks his head slightly as if it would help.

When he feels the weight of Michelle's gaze, Ted can't help but look her way. He sees a bit of hesitation in her face and she tucks strands of blonde hair behind her ears carefully.

"This is going to sound like I'm putting off answering any of your questions," she admits slowly. "I promise I'll answer what I can, but to get a proper frame of where to start, I need to ask you something that seems probably obvious to you. Something I bet Michael's never going to get the nerve to ask."

"Oh, okay," Ted answers, feeling a catch in the rhythm of his heart yet again. He's not certain he's ready for this.

And he certainly isn't prepared when he hears her ask, "Can you tell me _exactly_ what it was that you and Michael had a falling out about?"

Ted blinks, frankly surprised. For some ungodly reason, he has been stressing about a much more intimate question.

This seems both easier and harder.

"It's kind of a misnomer to call it a _falling out_ exactly," Ted admits, a little more reluctant than he expected of himself. "We didn't fall out, we had just this period of, well, not clicking. Which is weird. Because it's _us."_

Michelle nods in a way that might seem like she understands what _us_ can entail. But Ted feels, coldly down to his core, that even if she's Booster's twin sister there's certainly no way she can understand this feeling he means. There's not anyone Ted thinks can fully comprehend what he's talking about with him and Booster.

For a long time, he liked to think that _Booster_ understood.

But years of silence has made Ted begin to think it could very well just be on his side after all.

No one gets it.

"It started out with just little things, not meshing," Ted continues. "And I was… well, I started getting more irritable. Everyone says so, I didn't think so _at the time_. Maybe I did. I was having a hard time and Booster is usually so good at getting what I'm feeling and he just _wasn't._ And after a while, I moved cities. Lost my company to corporate espionage. Went into cardiac arrest." Ted can't help the flare-up of anger he feels as he adds, "Booster never checked in. I didn't bother reaching back out."

In response, Michelle looks positively horrified. "When did this all happen?" she asks quickly.

Ted raises a brow in her direction. "I don't know. Two years ago? Little more?"

She bites onto one of her fingers and turns her head, holding something back with all her might. Then she gazes back at Ted, apologetically. "I… I think there's been a misunderstanding in all of this," she admits. "Because Mikey… God he would never miss being there for you again."

Squinting, Ted can't tell how much he's being played anymore. " _Again?"_ he presses.

"Dammit!" Michelle grabs her hair and pulls. In her frustration, Ted thinks she couldn't look any more like her twin if she tried. "I hate keeping track of this time travel shenanigans! I _hate it!_ I don't have a knack for it like Michael."

"Calm down," Ted tries to say evenly and politely. "I'm sure there _is_ something else going on. Hell, I _know_ there has to be because… look where we are… look _who_ we are. That's what I'd like to get to the business of, honestly, because this is making my head spin and I'm worried more and more each second you're letting me fill in my own blanks."

Michelle inhales sharply and closes her eyes. After a few moments of furrowed brows and mixed expressions, she nods her head and looks at Ted. "Look, honestly, I want Michael to be the final word on what is shared and what's not. But you're almost being assassinated by time travelers, and you met Rani, and you know I'm alive, and Michael — allegedly — spills his guts any time he's around a fifth and you, so… Here we go."

Easing back into a more comfortable position, Ted tilts his head and looks at Michelle expectantly. "Here we go," he agrees.

"Well, we work… kind of like Time Cops," Michelle announces in wind up.

Which is already enough to make Ted take pause.

"I'm sorry, did you say _Time Cops?"_ Ted asks critically. "What does that even mean?"

"Well, the time stream has important moments that can't be changed… but sometimes they get fuzzy, or moments leading up to them get weakened, and people who can manipulate the time stream can abuse those moments to alter history as we know it," Michelle explains. "Rip Hunter, who discovered the time stream and invented time travel as we know and understand it now, has Mikey go-to moments in time where he's needed and repair them. Sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't, but each moment is important and Mikey — sometimes with my help — goes in, makes sure things happen like they're supposed to, and comes back. Hopefully with being seen, heard, or felt as little as possible. But sometimes it means punching people. I haven't figured out which kind of intervention he prefers yet, really. It depends on the day."

Ted blinks a few times, looks to his unconscious friend, then back to Michelle.

"We're talking about Booster, right?"

For a brief moment, a flash of protective fury crosses Michelle's face. She tempers it quickly, though and smirks to herself. "Yeah… well, people rise to the expectations you give them sometimes, you know?" She looks fondly toward her brother. "Rip gave him that chance. Gave it to me, too. Saved me from my death and, through a loophole, made it less of a second chance and more of an opportunity to be someone I was always meant to be."

Searching Michelle's forlorn expression, Ted takes a breath and nods slowly. "Yeah," he agrees softly. "Honestly, yeah. You guys always were great — _naturals_ at this whole hero thing. From the start. Even being thrown off the same way I would if you put me back at the Revolutionary War, I guess. But… I knew Booster was capable of being greater than any of us," Ted clarifies. "It's just… last time I saw him, he wasn't exactly taking those steps." He frowns and looks off, a bit red in the ears again. "Maybe it was because of me. Maybe he couldn't take them while we were being goofballs."

"No, that's not it at _all,"_ Michelle says, approaching Ted and gently placing her hands on his shoulders. "Ted, he only did _any_ of this from the beginning because of you. Because… Because the time stream is shifted and some of the things we'll tell you for the next while aren't going to make any sense with what you _know_ is true, but… our time now is different than the one Michael and I still remember. There was a huge event, a huge _change_ that we couldn't do anything about, and some of it is still not figured out. But one of the biggest changes is that these few years of you two being apart… for us, it wasn't some falling out or misunderstanding left on the back burner."

And, suddenly, it all begins to click into place.

He turns and looks at Michelle with widened, horrified eyes.

"You're saying I'm supposed to be dead _now?"_ he asks her critically. "That _that's_ the reason I've not seen him?"

"No! Yes! I mean, hold on," Michelle shakes her head. "Yes, that's where the confusion is, but… no. No, we don't think you're _supposed_ to be dead. You were and now you're not, and maybe _this_ is how things are meant to be but before they weren't."

"This is _not_ comforting at all," Ted heaves, feeling like he can't get any air all of the sudden. His heart is racing. "Wait, that assassin… is he trying to kill me because I'm supposed to be dead? Was it the heart attack!? Oh, god, I faced down a lot of alien invasions over the years and if it was a _heart attack_ that got me, I swear to god—" He pauses and breathes. "Actually, no, okay, that's pretty funny, Big Guy, a few points there."

Ted thinks he's being fairly humorous, all things considered, but when he looks to Michelle for at least a _complementary_ laugh, all he gets is a stare that makes the rounds somewhere between sympathetic and embarrassed. Which is not the reaction he was looking for in either case.

"It's weird knowing you're supposed to be dead, but, trust me, it's not as weird as you feel right now," Michelle attempts to comfort him.

"Alright," Ted responds, throat feeling a little dry. "I'll have to take your words for it." He then frowns and rubs at his chin in thought. "Okay, but that still leaves the question of this Black Beetle character. What's his deal? Why does he want me dead? _Is_ it because of the time stream shenanigans you mentioned?"

Michelle frowns and runs a hand through her hair. "Black Beetle is a weird one to explain. He's… Michael's been dealing with him for quite a while now, but there's not a whole lot we know about him. He _claims_ he's from the twenty-seventh century and he _claims_ there's something particular about the Blue Beetle legacy he hates. But I never made sense of it." She shrugs. "Honestly, I can't fill you in on most of that stuff. It was mostly before I was back on the scene. That's all Mikey and," her mouth twitches a bit, uncomfortable and sad, "and Rip."

"Rip Hunter," Ted clarifies. "If he's basically your and Booster's boss, and this is his lab, where's he hiding at?"

The very mention of Rip has left Michelle paled, but by the end of Ted's question, she looks positively heartsick.

It's almostenough to make Ted regret bringing it up.

"We don't know," Michelle admits quietly. "Most of our time for the past year has been split between patching up messes in the time stream and looking for him. But, honestly, with all his secrets, we don't even know where to _start_ looking for him. It's like the new universe opened up and swallowed him whole. He's just _gone._ "

"So, what, he never existed?" Ted asks. The concept of someone being swallowed up by _time and space_ is enough to make any lesser man stare at a spot on the wall for a few hours in existential horror, but Ted has the pressing concerns of catching up with his best friend's not-dead sister and dealing with time-traveling assassins to helpfully distract him.

"Well, Michael doesn't think so," Michelle says, sounding rather unsure of herself. "At least not yet. He says we would have a harder time remembering him by now if that's the case. But… Rip's been a part of our lives for a long time now. He's… he's family. It's hard to think of anything keeping him away like _this_ without _any_ signs." She pauses. Her finger daintily taps on her bottom lip. "Hm. But he… or _someone,_ at least, gave us a clue of some kind. It's what got Rani on her little adventure to find _you,_ Ted."

"Okay, I guess that sounds promising for Rip," Ted says, though it honestly doesn't sound like _anything_ to his ears if he's being honest with himself. "But what _about_ this Rani girl?" Ted asks.

Michelle's entire demeanor softens. "Rani is… Well, at this point, she's an anomaly. Michael saved her from a planet which was destroyed and, well, she wasn't supposed to be. There weren't any survivors, according to records. She's one of us, now."

Ted stares at Michelle in partial horror. " _What?_ Is that… how… Wow." He scratches his head before continuing, "So Booster's basically a dad now."

"Well," Michelle pauses and then nods reluctantly. "Actually, yes. In a way it kind of. Fell onto him. But he lives up to it beautifully."

There's a gasp that Ted can't retain, despite himself. "He pulled a _Batman."_

"Yes," Michelle agrees.

"S'dop dalkin' aboud me."

The words catch Ted so off guard, he nearly jumps to his feet from the floor. For her part, Michelle _does_ jump to her feet.

Booster's eyes are still closed and he looks positively miserable even then, but there's an unmistakable control of his breath and a blush of red in his face. He shifts, slightly and painfully, as if beginning to adjust himself before realizing it's a very poor idea.

After he settles again, Booster's lids lift up just slightly and he lets out a sigh.

"Seriouthly," he slurs through a heavily blocked nose, "I'm _right_ here."

"Mikey! You're okay!" Michelle yells out with relief.

" _D'at's_ a sd're'dch," Booster continues with a low moan. "I d'ink I go'd hi'd by a d'ruck."

"Close," Ted joked, settling back into a haunched position close to the couch. " _You_ kind of hit the Bug. A few times."

Immediately, Booster's eyes flicker open and he locks in on Ted's direction like a honing rocket. His expression is difficult to make out, a flurry of different emotions flooding across all at once. " _Ted,"_ he manages to say carefully enough it's clear even with his nose in the way.

"Hey," Ted says back, mouth feeling strangely dry. He tries to think of something more serious to say but all he can manage is, "Sorry I couldn't reset your nose while you were asleep. I was too busy taking selfies with you while I still had the better face."

"You _always_ had… d'e be'dder face," Booster manages with a crinkle of a smile on his swollen lips.

Ted smirks and shakes his head just slightly. "Liar." He feels the uncomfortable warmth rise up to his face and ears yet again and turns his head slightly to avoid Booster's gaze just for a moment. But not too long. "Guess it's kind of cheating to claim best looks after you take a few assassination attempt hits for me just beforehand. Very unsportsmanlike."

"Very," Booster says breathily. Annoyance flashes through his eyes for a moment. "Wha'd abou'd my nose?"

"That's my cue to let you take the brunt of this one, Blue Beetle!" Michelle declares, walking up to the side of her brother and leaning over to affectionately pat his cheek. "Have fun, bro."

Booster takes his eyes off of Ted for the first time since they opened and and regards Michelle carefully. "Rani?"

"Scared. Fine, safe. Scared," Michelle recites easily. "I'm going to go check on her and Skeets."

"D'anks," Booster mutters as Michelle passes.

It leaves them alone in the room together, and Ted realizes he has wasted a _lot_ of potential questions and conversation starters already and isn't sure where to go next.

Which helps when Booster chimes in with, "Are you hur'd?"

Baffled, Ted looks at him. "Heard? I don't know _can_ you hear me?"

"No, I mean…" Booster huffs a short laugh. "Asshole."

"Of course I'm not hurt, you protected me instead of yourself, nitwit," Ted says. His hand moves without him thinking, like it's possessed, and takes hold of Booster's normally soft and perfect hair. It's not perfect after a beating, but still soft. He teases it a bit, shaking Booster's head just enough to make a point without testing his no doubt sore neck. "You didn't have to do that."

"'Course I did," Booster says easily enough. "Didn'd feel like… losing you…"

"I didn't want to lose you again either," Ted says pointedly. "Imagine how I feel now."

Booster's eyes sharpened, a little more lucid and serious. "You _never_ lose me."

"What? You got all the timelines down to a science, Time Cop?" Ted asks. When he sees the brief flash of shock, he realizes that Booster wasn't awake for nearly as much of Ted and Michelle's conversation as he thought. "Your sister shared. Just a bit. _Still_ super confusing, though."

"Dammit 'Chel," Booster groans. "Now go'dda kill you."

"Nope," Ted says, leaning over, "not letting that happen either. Not even for your nemesis with the _very_ lame copyright infringement."

" _So_ lame," Booster agrees, breath a little stilted. He begins to move his head closer but flinches back as his neck strains. "Dangerous, d'ough."

"I get that," Ted says. His mouth seems to be the only thing capable of movement. He's not sure why, but his heart is irregular again, but not in the way that makes him concerned. It's something, well, a lot more juvenile.

His mouth is still dry so he tries to lick his lips before continuing.

"Listen, Booster," he says slowly, "I'm going to fix your nose."

"Oh, good," Booster says lightly.

"But it's going to hurt like a _you know what_ and… I kind of want to take care of something else before we get on to that part. Something that's been bothering me for _years._ Before this weird… whatever cosmic misunderstanding there's been between us," Ted explains, doing his best to balance _thorough detail_ and _utter vagueness_ in a way that would make the Question proud.

Booster looks at him warily. "Okay?"

They stare at each other in silence. Booster is expectant and slightly nervous. Ted is certain he would have lost his lunch by now if he hadn't given the grease bucket stuff to Rani earlier.

As soon as the awkwardness of hesitation is more than the nervousness of action, Ted launches forward and kisses the corner of Booster's mouth.

He can feel the touch of their lips, the slight five o'clock shadow forming the outline of Booster's mouth. He tries to mind Booster's bruises and aches, but the rush of adrenaline presses Ted's lips hard into the other man's skin. It could, after all, be the very last time he even has the opportunity to do this.

When he pulls back with the thrust of a man breaking through water to the air again, Ted feels like he could pass out. He looks, horrified at himself, toward Booster and sees a surprised expression, too.

Booster blinks multiple times before, against Ted's grunts of disagreement, shifting to push up on his elbows and lift his torso off the couch.

None of this, especially the lack of words, is helping Ted wonder if he can throw up the day _before's_ lunch in today's stead.

"Wow," Booster finally says. "I wan'd my nose fixed."

Ted feels like he can crawl into a hole and die. "Okay."

"Bu'd," Booster huffs, looking at Ted deeply, "firs'd, you go'dda no'd _miss._ "

For a moment, the comment doesn't register. Either because Ted is emotionally comatose in the aftermath of his big leap of faith, or because the dulled words Booster has to use with his blocked nose are distracting. Either way, it _does_ finally come together and make sense.

"Oh!" Ted answers. "Yeah. Whoops. Total accident, let's redo that. I'm sure you understand. Going back and fixing time stuff."

He leans forward and, this time doesn't miss.


	6. Michelle Carter

My gosh we are so close to completing this thing! Just two chapters left, hard as it is to believe!

And of course a wonderful thanks to shibascarf, babybatbrat, bibliofilariidae, mcbangle, secretlystephaniebrown, arouraleona, and boopinbabbit for your lovely feedback and support!

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter Six: Michelle Carter

"God, I'm such an idiot sometimes!" Michelle hisses to herself, feet stomping down the corridor toward Rani's room.

Her conversation with Ted Kord is still rattling around in her skull and she can't tell what half of her she'd like to strangle more — the overly sharing side unable to keep a coherent secret or the crude and cryptic mistress of time she feels no right to even claiming.

Coming to a stop mid-stride, Michelle closes her eyes and lets her shoulders droop. She tilts her head back with a sigh. "No wonder Rip and Mikey trust me with next to _nothing_ other than babysitting duty," she groans. "Throw one little moment of emotional conflict and I _utterly_ lose those salutatorian's brains."

Opening her eyes, she looks toward Rani's still distant room and feels a wave of conflict and shame that hasn't pestered her in a while. But this is the feeling she should be used to by now — it's just like their father used to always say when he bothered to be around.

"Been playing second best to _nothing_ since the womb, huh, Michelle?" she mutters under her breath. "Could place second in a game of solitaire."

She takes a moment to suck in a deep breath, steeling herself for a smiling face and positive disposition when a single voice knocks the wind out of her lungs yet again.

"What's _solitaire?"_ Rani's tiny voice questions.

Michelle blinks in surprise just before Rani's mousy haired head pops out from her room's doorway.

Despite herself, despite _everything,_ Michelle manages a softer and more genuine smile than the one she has been building up to and shakes her head slightly. "A _really_ boring card game," she answers easily. "Should have known better than to think you would be asleep."

Skeets, the ever unhelpful bot, hovers out from Rani's room and bops in the air. "It would have been an unlikely scenario even in the most forgiving of circumstances, Michelle! Which, unfortunately for us, the last twenty-four hours or so have not been."

"Try the last _twenty-nine years_ for some of us, Skeets," Michelle jokes, closing the distance of the hallway and scooping Rani into her arms with a simple bow.

"That is much too small to be your correct chronal age, Michelle—"

"Skeets, _shush,"_ Michelle snaps as she enters the bedroom. "Or I'll give you to Batman to dissect. Again."

"Three experiences too many, I will heed the warning," Skeets banters back.

As they enter Rani's room, Michelle slows her approach to Rani's bed and adjusts her hold on the younger child. Her thoughts are nearly as heavy as Rani is getting as she lives and ages with them. It's not going to be long before picking her up isn't an option for Michelle _or_ Michael.

"Are you going to make me go to bed?" Rani asks critically.

"Eventually," Michelle admits, turning to sit on the edge of the bed while still keeping her grip on Rani. The girl sits easily in her lap and leans away, giving enough space for them to look into each other's eyes. "We need to have a talk about everything that's happened first."

Rani's cheeks grow slightly pale and she squirms uncomfortably. "Oh," she says. "I think I'd rather sleep."

"Well, that's tough, kiddo, probably should have put yourself to bed before I got over here then," Michelle jokes, poking at Rani's stomach playfully.

In response, Rani turns and twists, but the enthusiasm is slow and dull compared to Rani's usual behavior.

It's one of many signs Michelle, Michael, and Rip have learned to pay careful attention to with Rani. She is a sensitive little girl, and her traumas are numerous. When she's not bopping around she's almost assuredly in some state of regressive isolation or pure shock.

Watching the man she loves as a father get beaten to a pulp by an evil man they have encountered before is, at the very least, a _trigger._ Michelle can be certain of at least that much.

"Rani, listen to me," Michelle says, firmly but without any heat to it. It's enough to draw Rani's wide eyes to her. "We love you, and we want the best for you. You know that, right?"

After a moment of clear confusion, Rani manages a small nod.

"Good, because we _do,"_ Michelle reinforces. "And we know you love Rip and want to find him. We do too! But you are a very little girl and this is a very dangerous multiverse we live in. You absolutely cannot, under no circumstances, leave Time Lab without either Mikey, myself, or Rip."

"I had Skeets," Rani says quickly.

On instinct, Michelle turns her head to acknowledge Skeets' floating presence. She immediately turns her eyes back on Rani but it's a moment too late as Skeets already feels acknowledged.

"Young Rani does have quite an argument on that account," Skeets says supportively.

"Yes, Skeets, you did a _great_ job," Michelle says with a roll of her eyes that threatens to continue right out of her sockets. "What were you even doing allowing any of this, Skeets? Aren't you programmed with safety protocols and whatnot?"

"Yes I am, Michelle, however, there are no proper babysitting protocols. And while I advised against rash action, it was best to make do with the situation at hand," Skeets returns promptly. "Might I point out, this is not far off from my calculations when dealing with your brother."

There isn't much she can give to deny that fairly abundant fact so Michelle releases a groan instead. "Why can't anything just be simple?"

Rani squirms and meets Michelle's gaze. "Please don't be mad at Skeets, Michelle," Rani pleads. "It's my fault. I just wanted to find Boppy, and he _did_ leave me a message."

Michelle feels her chest tighten and she squeezes her grip on Rani sadly. "We all want Rip back, Rani, believe me."

"In further defense of both Rani and myself," Skeets spoke up, hovering closer to eye level with Michelle, "following clear instructions left by Rip Hunter is often an important and practical step for all of us here in the Time Lab. And those newly chalked directions were fairly direct considering the usual clues."

Blinking, Michelle thinks it over.

"That's… actually pretty true, Skeets," Michelle remarks thoughtfully. "And it did lead to saving Ted… and getting a bunch of us almost killed, but definitely the saving Ted part." She presses her lips together, still deep in contemplation. "But even then there wasn't _any_ sign of Rip, even when Michael was almost certainly in trouble. And that's not like Rip at all. I can't even count on my hands and toes how many times, when Mike's taken too much, Rip has shown up and tipped the scales for him. It's almost his signature at a certain point."

Following the conversation, Rani draws her own brows together in concern. "Michelle, you don't think Boppy wrote the message? But who did? I'm the only one who's ever written on the board before… and Boppy made me switch to making my unicorns and butterflies on paper so I don't do that anymore."

Sighing, Michelle shifts Rani's weight to her other knee. "I'll be honest, honey, I'm not sure yet _what_ exactly I think about anything."

Rani's bottom lip puckers out as she studies Michelle carefully. "If we don't know what's going on, how do we know I did the wrong thing?" she asks pointedly.

"No, no, missy, you're not philosophizing out of this one," Michelle stops her quickly. "This isn't a matter of right or wrong at the moment, it's a matter of keeping you and everyone else _safe_ so that we can all be together again as a big, happy family. And if you're flying around to random times and places without us, we can't do that. Because I know for me and Mike, losing you is the _absolute worst thing imaginable_ these days, and I'm not going to let it happen. Okay, girlie?"

While she ducks her head down to avoid Michelle's gaze, a coy smile finds its way to Rani's face. She knows when Michelle says these things that she's speaking from the bottom of her heart. She _has_ to know by now.

And if she does, considering the emotional mess Rani was when she first came into their lives, maybe that means they're doing something right after all.

When Rani breaks the silence again, it's with a deceptively simple question. "Is Ted Kord now in our family? Like Boppy?"

Thinking about it, Michelle takes a breath and then leans back. "I honestly don't know _what's_ in store with those two, Rani, love," she admits. "I don't think he's going anywhere any time soon. Either because Michael and he need to sort things out or because of the whole… assassination stuff. That makes it kind of difficult to picture this arrangement ending too fast."

Before Rani can respond, there is a loud shout followed by laughter.

"Welp, that's the nose, and no sounds of murder," Michelle jokes. Rani looks at her questioningly so she rubs her shoulders. "What I mean is, things are _definitely_ looking like we can be expecting to see more of the former Blue Beetle."

"Okay," Rani nods. "And if he's family, then Boppy will be okay with him staying here, like me, so that's good."

Michelle has a hard time arguing with Rani's peculiar logic on that accord.

That is until Michelle looks over and notices the little girl is still furrowed in thought, her eyes darting back and forth as if she's reading something on her room's wall. Then, looking at Michelle cautiously, Rani asks, "If he's not family… how is Black Beetle able to always get in and out of Time Lab? Or write on the board, if it's him?"

If Rani hadn't always been so innocent and young, Michelle thinks the questions would have been laced with more accusations. It's already enough to make Michelle's heart seize.

They are, after all, _very_ good questions.

Playing up to the role of an adult, Michelle looks toward Skeets instead. "Skeets… how _is_ all of this stuff possible from Black Beetle?" she asks, more worry in her voice than she intends to let on.

For once, Skeets' response is not immediate and overly explanatory. The droid hovers, a strangely ominous look to his screen in the wrong lighting.

"Apologies, Michelle," Skeets says in a flat and altogether unapologetic tone. "Information about my scans and records for Rip Hunter and Black Beetle are blocked as of update two-two-seven-dash-eleven-dot-thirteen. Courtesy of Rip Hunter."

"What?" Michelle asks, aghast.

"Why would Boppy do that?" Rani asks again, only now her pointed questions are accented by the shake of Time Lab's very infrastructure itself.

The little girl in her lap screams and throws herself into a fit before Michelle can even blink. She can't draw a single coherent thought before leaping to her feet, Rani in tow, and looking at Skeets.

"I am receiving an intruder alert!" Skeets says loudly, a red exclamation popping up on his screen.

"You useless, toaster!" Michelle sputters in frustration. "Tell me where this is coming from!"

"I believe it does not require much deductive reasoning," Skeets answers, following Michelle through the door and out into the corridor, "to assume that the laboratory is the most likely option!"

She would die before admitting it out loud, but Michelle _knows_ that Skeets is right. She turns on her heels and takes off to follow the continuing noises of clattering and shaking.

Their home is under attack, their family, everything they still have of their old world and time — and Michelle cannot be nearly as upset with that as she is with the haunting premises that Rani and Skeets have given her.

Black Beetle or not, the real attack is on the understanding Michelle has had of their everything in the last few congruent years. And as much as she wants Rip Hunter safely back with them, she needs a _serious_ word with him about that alone.


	7. Rani

Okay this chapter took me a hot minute because, well, the world has gotten crazy over the course of the last month, as I'm sure you all know. But! Only one chapter to go after this big reveal! I also apologize if my formatting is strang(er) than usual with this chapter on some sites, I had the "honor" of being chosen for the tumblr beta halfway through working on this chapter and, well, it's been a disaster for my organizational preferences lol

And of course a wonderful thanks to kool-kitty, shibascarf, mcbangle, secretlystephaniebrown for your lovely feedback and support!

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter Seven: Rani

Rani knows that if she's quiet, if she's small, if she's unheard, that the adults around her can cart her off or forget her as the world falls down around their ears.

It's what she has been doing since her parents died. It's what has kept her safe until she went against instinct and enthusiastically followed the instructions of Rip, her Boppy.

And it's what she reverts to doing as Michelle cradles her close and runs into the laboratory.

Rani spares a small glance over to the living room as Mikey and his friend Ted race out to meet them. There's still enough blood and tearing on Michael's suit and the way the bandages line upon his face and nose that make her squirm in discomfort. But he's on his feet again, blasters at the ready.

Maybe he's better off than he looks. Even if Rani feels uncertain and concerned.

"What are you doing?" Michael and Michelle yell at each other in stereo. Their mirrored glares at each other only grow in intensity before they both fire back, "That's probably Black Beetle, you—"

For a moment, Rani is caught up in the happenings, glancing between the twins before she notices Ted doing the same with much of the same expression.

"Wow," Ted says almost jovially. "I tried to imagine you with a twin for years, Boost, and I never really got it until now."

"You look like an ibuprofen away from keeling over," Michelle snaps at Booster firmly. "Go back and lay down, little brother."

"You brought Rani out into the lab when we're under attack and think I'm the one not ready?" Mikey's voice reaches for octaves in that way Rani usually only hears him do in conversations with Rip.

"Last time our home was invaded, a Nazi infected you!" Michelle snaps. "And that was you without broken ribs and nose and ego all wrapped up together."

Remembering that encounter, and the drama of Rip sending Mikey to jail after for — to Rani — still mysterious reasons, Rani can't help but tense her shoulders. That had not been a fun experience in and of itself, but the aftermath still made butterflies in her stomach.

Without that experience under his belt, Ted still seems very concerned.

"Infected by… what? That's a concerning cliff note to leave us time novices at," Ted asks. His brows knit close together and he leans toward Booster in concern. "Like what happened after? Did you start listening to too much Wagner and get the urge to conquer Poland?"

That seems to distract Michael from his staring contest with Michelle long enough to blink owlishly at Ted. "What? No, it was just a disease. Like. Physical one. I wasn't—" His face scrunches up only to flinch at his own face. "Wait, that's a movie reference isn't it?"

"Yeah, we'll watch it together later, can't believe we haven't already," Ted offers with a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Heads up, though, director's a real creep."

"Most are," Mikey agrees.

"Boys! Invasion," Michelle snaps them back into attention. "And I couldn't leave Rani, Mike, that's what got us in trouble last time."

Despite herself, Rani squirms at the comment. "Hey," she argues pathetically.

"You're in trouble, hush," Michelle says without any heat or even a glance down to Rani's face.

"Okay, I've got a crazy idea," Ted says, pulling the attention of the Carter siblings toward him. "Mad scientist levels crazy." After a pause, he razzes his hands dully. "Let's call the gang to help us out."

"No," both Michelle and Michael say at once. Rani, though she doesn't quite understand who the gang is, already knew the answer as well.

"What? Why not?" Ted asks, genuinely curious. "We need help, I'd rather not die this soon after, uh, big changes and emotional development. I talked to Bea and Tora on the phone, like, three hours ago—"

"Time Lab's secret," Rani answers helpfully.

"The secrecy and protection of the time stream are one of Doctor Hunter's most sacred rules," Skeets offers as well, bopping up in the air as his speakers rattle off the fact.

There is a tremendous shaking that nearly knocks them all off their feet once more and makes Rani nervously curl into Michelle's hold on her. The crash is near them for sure.

"Yeah, seems really secretive," Ted says sarcastically. "Someone should inform Black Beetle."

"I don't understand how this keeps happening!" Mikey growls out. "There is no reason Black Beetle should have a lock on Time Lab like he does — he follows us everywhere. Hell, Rip and I never figured out how he knew how to get in here from the time stream the first time he came and got me to…" Mikey trails off quietly, glancing toward Ted who meets his gaze curiously. Mike shakes his head. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. What matters is how this asshole makes no sense."

Rani can feel the intensity from the adults, even as she is shushed from joining. Ever since she met Michael and Michelle, they have been working to reassure her that home is safe, that she doesn't need to worry while she is here. Even if every home she has touched base on so far has not worked in this way, Time Lab is supposed to.

But they are uncertain and scared, and it's all because of Black Beetle and how he bends all of Boppy's rules.

Which, when it comes to her Boppy's rules, is only the case for one other person.

The thought is just that — a thought. But once she has it, Rani can't help but chew on it. Think more about it.

She wonders…

"Okay, so you have an enemy who wants to kill us and makes no sense," Ted reiterates from Mikey's side. "That's pretty on par with supervillains. But if I can know enough about what's going on to be here, what's the harm in some of the JLI knowing too? We're all the same."

"We absolutely are not," Mikey says with a visible cringe. "Do you think I would do anything like what we were doing, with Guy Gardner? Like, really?"

"Michael!" Michelle gasps, covering Rani's ear with one hand while smothering the rest of Rani's head into her side.

"It's… It was PG!" Michael flounders.

Like watching a volley in a tennis match, Rani's head shifts from side to side, following the conversation between the adults and understanding very little of it. But, perhaps because of her lack of understanding, she finds herself distracted by the spark across the laboratory where a dark figure moves forward.

She holds her breath for a moment, feeling as though it could be the long lost Rip, but as the shadows shift and the figure becomes clearer, she sees that is less the case than she had hoped.

"Mikey! Shel!" Rani blurts out instead.

Black Beetle aims for them but before his concussive blast is anywhere close, the air shifts and Mikey's shield thinly protects them once before sputtering out in a shattering effect.

"Everyone, get closer, the shield's too thin with us this far apart," Mike orders seriously.

"If I had wanted that shot to matter, Booster Gold, your shield wouldn't have held regardless," Black Beetle sneers as he continues to come closer. His head bobs slightly, looking from Michael's feet to his head. His grin grows. "I see you left our last encounter with a few mementos. Good. Though I was hoping they'd keep you down still by now."

"No one likes a monologue," Ted warns. "Imagine how you'd feel if I gave you one right back. I think fewer villains would be keen on them if that was the sort of treatment we subjected them to."

Black Beetle's grin gives way to a thin frown as he glares in Ted's direction. "Your so-called clever wit is precisely why no one missed you last time you sloughed off the mortal coil."

Rani watches as a glint grows in Mikey's eyes, his teeth gnashing together. "Shut up!" he snarls protectively.

"Skeets, why didn't you detect Black Beetle?" Michelle asks the robot worriedly while still holding Rani close. "Why are you such a bucket of bolts when it comes to this guy?"

"Apologies, Michelle," Skeets says in a way that, for a robot, seems fairly sincere. "My scanners and data regarding Black Beetle are locked as of update—"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard it already!" Michelle groans.

Rani twitches her nose, grasping to Michelle's shoulder worriedly.

She wonders again.

"Why are you so set on killing Ted?" Michael demands again. "What is your deal? How can you break every rule we have about time travel for… for what? Constantly pissing me off and going after my best… after my… my Ted!?"

Ted flinches from Mikey's other side and gives the man a strained look. "Strong conclusion there, Boost."

"I'm making this up as I go," Mike admits to the obvious.

"I have always had my reasons," Black Beetle admits, arm forming a frightful looking canon even larger than his current blaster. "Now? With the twists and tangles of this current time and universe? I have even greater concerns for myself. Namely, the insurance of my own existence."

"Oh, cry us a river," Mikey hisses before, without warning, flinging himself forward courtesy of his flight ring. His fist makes contact with Beetle's chin, but it doesn't topple the man over.

What does do that job, though, is when Ted slides forward and between Beetle's legs. There is a metal wire leading from Ted's cargo pocket to around the Beetle's ankles.

Ted and Mikey land on the other side of the villain and give each other a glance. Each takes some of the wire into his own hands then yanks Beetle down.

Rani can put her wandering mind to rest, thrilled at the action. "Wow! I think they were planning that while we were in my room!" Rani exclaims. "Is that what Guy Gardner can't do?"

"Ask me when you're older," Michelle says, frazzled, as she puts Rani on her feet. "Hold on, kiddo. I'm helping out."

The moment she no longer has a grip on Michelle or anyone else, the moment Rani feels her panic begin to truly set in. She is, after all, a little girl surrounded by explosions and calamity, and even the adults she trusts more than anything else in the world are not enough to save themselves.

Just like Boppy Rip.

The instant that Michelle uses the magnetic pull of the Goldstar suit to encase Black Beetle with the loose parts of Time Lab, the fiend pulls out his large cannon to fire again.

He blasts and even with Mikey thinking fast and putting up a shield, they don't get a moment to breathe before everything backfires spectacularly and sends everyone flying off with the concussive blasts.

In the sea of groans, Rani can see that Ted Kord has landed nearest to her hiding spot. And Black Beetle is stepping near them.

"I must preserve the events as they should be," Black Beetle says darkly.

Rani knows villain speeches, she knows that bad people love to do bad things with elaborate reasons that almost make them sound good, but she refuses to accept it this time. With wobbly knees and a tunneled vision, Rani steps out from the rubbage and leaps between Ted Kord and Black Beetle's slow approach.

"No! Rani!" Mikey cries out from the other side of the lab, struggling with something on top of him.

Black Beetle slows to a stop, the red lenses of his suit gleaming for a moment as he changes his weapon. "Move aside, girl."

"No," Rani says, wishing her voice was stronger.

"I will kill you," Beetle warns her grimly. "This must be done. Time is messy like that."

"Time can change and be-be beautiful," Rani argues, standing firm with her arms outstretched. "You-you gotta want things to be better, though. You've gotta."

"Kid, wait," Ted says with a cough behind her, shuffling and trying to move her out of the way. Rani smacks away his hand.

After a moment, however, Rani realizes something big - something huge.

She hasn't been hurt yet. Black Beetle is hesitating.

Confused, Rani turns and looks Black Beetle over for herself. She can sense something strange, something reluctant about his stance. Not toward Ted Kord, but toward her.

And that is when Rani takes the breath she has been afforded by the adults being so focused on the moment. When she takes stock of everything she's seen.

Rani's eyes widen as she looks at Black Beetle. "Boppy?" she asks weakly.


	8. Michael Jon Carter

We're finally here! After such a long wait, we've finally come to the end of this fic. It's been a wild ride, fueled at the end here by quarantine and anxiety, but I really have loved writing this story. I adore these characters, miss the Time Family in the comics, and hope I did them justice in this story. I hope it is something enjoyable for all of you, too.

As we wrap up this long journey, I absolutely must thank all of you for coming along with me. And, of course, a wonderful and appreciative thank you to babybatbrat, spiralcass, shibascarf, mcbangle, gaymage, Schw0099, GeorginaNadia, secretlystephaniebrown, and arouraleona for your lovely comments and supportive words 3 I appreciate them so very much!

 **Some Times (Time and Time Again)  
** Chapter Eight: Michael Jon Carter

Booster Gold is not new to being a superhero.

He's been there and seen that. His current "job" interview was him watching the rebirth of the multiverse after a giant mind-controlling worm tore everything to hell. He fought with the bravest and greatest men and women he ever met against the monster that killed Superman. He actually got to confess his feelings and act with them for the friend that he couldn't stop from dying years beforehand.

And he is still unprepared for the twists and turns before him now.

From underneath a metal I-beam, Michael Jon Carter stares in silence at the shimmering black metal of Black Beetle. He heard Rani's accusation, but what is more deafening is what comes after.

Black Beetle stands in silence rather than correct her.

Ted, on his back still behind Rani, looks around multiple times before squinting at Black Beetle. "What's a Boppy?" he asks cluelessly.

"Nothing," Black Beetle insists, scooping forward and grabbing Rani's wrist before retching her away from his line of fire. "Not anymore."

A wild spark of protectiveness takes possession of Booster as he realizes what's about to happen. Even with the pounding in his chest and ears ever-growing – god, Rani can't be right, she can't – he knows he has to save Ted first and foremost. He pushes and shoves at the heavy metal laying across him when it rather unexpectedly gives way.

Blinking in surprise, Booster glances over and sees Michelle across the other side of the lab near the transporter platform. She's weary, but her hand is reaching forward outstretched toward the I-beam, using her suit's magnetism.

"Mike, go!" she coughs out.

His family, his loved ones, are all in pain around him, and Booster can't figure out a way to heal all of it outside of the most direct way first.

Clenching his fist, Booster flings himself forward with the force of his flight ring. He tackles into Black Beetle's waist and takes him into the nearest wall before he can fire at Ted.

Then, before either himself or the time-traveling menace can catch their breath again, they are enclosed in a thick bubble produced by the forcefield belt.

"Boost!" "Mikey!" "Michael!" muffled yells cry from outside.

For the moment, Booster ignores them, pushing up to his feet one foot at a time. He can feel a trickle of blood down from his nose yet again, but he ignores it, focusing instead as Black Beetle stands back up.

"You think you can keep me trapped in here, Gold?" he snarls.

"I don't know, it worked for Guy Gardner before," Booster only half jests. He stands tall, meeting Black Beetle eye to eye. "And like it or not, he has a lantern ring. Is that blaster stronger than the most powerful tool in the universe?"

Black Beetle snarls and begins to readjust his suit's weaponry. "Then I'll take that belt off of you and free us both."

"Maybe," Booster admits, "but you should at least answer some questions for me first."

"I don't owe you anything," Black Beetle growls.

"Yeah? So sure about that?" Booster taunts, stabbing a finger at Black Beetle's armored chest. "Is Rani right? Is whoever is inside that black tin can Rip Hunter?" He squinted at the little exposed face he could see and felt a sickening lurch in his stomach. "Are you my missing friend?"

"You and Rip Hunter were never friends," Black Beetle says coldly.

"We were friends to me," Booster says gently. He searches Beetle's face and feels his chest clench. "Rip. C'mon, Rip. It's you. Please, just. Take the helmet down. I haven't seen you in months. Years, it feels like."

For a moment, there is no response from Black Beetle at all. He stands, stoically, nose to nose with Booster before tipping his head down. All at once, his armor responds, cryptically unfolding and reforming away from his head regressing back into the torso of the suit.

Booster sets his jaw, his heart still aching at the reveal no matter how much Booster attempted to prepare himself.

Rip Hunter's face is unmistakable, from his firm brow to the stern lines of his jaw. His hair is returned to the dirty blonde, no longer dyed or shaded as Rip has taken to. But, what is not the same, is the haunting glow that now envelops his eyes. It permeates out around him, rotating in a colorful display of the rainbow lights Booster has become so familiar with from the timestream.

"What's happening?" Booster demands immediately. "You wouldn't do all of this without a reason, you wouldn't… None of this would be happening unless Rip Hunter had a good reason. No matter how crazy he is. You are. Whatever. What I'm trying to say is…" Booster looks down to his hands which seem to be shrugging back at him in confusion before he throws them up in defeat. "What the actual fuck!?"

Scowling at him in a way that only Rip Hunter can, Black Beetle glares back into Booster's face. "I am doing what Rip Hunter always must do – correct the timestream, preserve events, make the tough choices."

"Were you always Black Beetle?" Booster asks. "Either you need an Oscar or Rip – my Rip – didn't know anything about this when you first showed up."

"A Rip Hunter is always Black Beetle," he answers cryptically.

"You really are Rip, because only Rip can make me that infuriated in a sentence," Booster groans, rubbing a hand across his face only to flinch at the pain from his nose. "Why are you trying to kill Ted? Time has changed – you yourself used to talk about it being fluid! Everything's stable! Ted doesn't have to die to save the universe!"

"He has to die for Rip Hunter to exist, that is obvious!" Black Beetle snarls, the chronal energy beginning to shine through even his mouth. "Each moment takes me closer to being rewritten, closer to impermanence! And without me there will be no protection for time itself! The universe will never survive!"

"Wow, you egotistical jackass, I'm right here!" Booster shouts back, gesturing to himself wildly. "You trained me! And I wasn't going to sit back and let you disappear before I knew you were going to have this chronal temper tantrum, and I'm definitely not going to do it now! Give me some credit."

"You will be too content to see me come to existence," Rip declares, beginning to fold in on himself, his body convulsing in a seizure that was all too familiar to Booster after his own bout of chronal leprosy. "I will never come to be."

"What a terrible thing to think of your family," Booster jokes gently, moving to catch Rip's now bulking shoulders. He falls to his knees on the floor with him.

"You don't even know how much family we are," Rip chokes out. "You may never know."

Booster's chest clenches at that and he presses his forehead to Rip's. "I think, buddy, I've got a clue," he remarks gently. "You're sick and you're not thinking straight, Rip. And if you think you're not coming into existence in this universe, you're so wrong it's laughable. Really! When you're old enough, I'm going to give you such shit for it. The great Rip Hunter, bested by Booster Gold."

"Bested by Michael Carter," Rip says weakly back, his skin beginning to crack and shed chronal light more and more. The crevices of his suit shine brightly with it. "Will you promise? To make sure?"

"Of course, Rip," Booster says, leaning back and away far enough to look fully into Rip's face. "I'm good on my word to my family. Always."

He waits, watching as Rip and Black Beetle in one disappear before his very eyes, pieces of chronal energy breaking up bit by bit and folding in on itself, disappearing from visible existence as if it were never there. Michael clutches his fists and tightly squeezes his eyes together as his chin drops to his chest. A surge of emotions he hasn't let himself feel for Rip rush through him at once.

After a long breath, he lowers his field and releases a long sigh.

"Chalk that one down," he says miserably, barely glancing over his shoulder at the three standing in shocked silence behind him.

"Chalk what down, Boost?" Ted bothers to utter as Michelle and Rani hug and let tears run down their faces.

"Well," Booster sighs, pushing up to his feet, "I promised whenever he's reborn and old enough, I'm going to give him shit for being wrong for once. That is a father-son promise that absolutely I am going to keep."

He's wobbly in his knees as he steps over to Ted and the others, but he tries his best not to show it. He's already feeling weak in a lot of other ways and he doesn't feel like letting any of them show.

Ted is banged up and holding onto his right shoulder rather tenderly. But his face is more concerned than pained.

"Are you okay?" Ted asks.

"Of course not," Michael answers back. "You?"

"I'm, honestly, really confused," Ted says, scratching at the back of his head. "But I'm also, just, really glad. Glad's a weird way to be right now, isn't it? I mean I'm relieved. Nope, not any better. I'm, uh. I'm…"

For just a moment, Booster raises a finger to hush Ted and tilts his body enough to look Michelle and Rani's ways.

"Girls? Are you guys going to be okay?" he asks tiredly.

"Yeah," Shel answers, wiping at her eyes with the hand not gripped by Rani. "I-I'll be okay."

Rani nods, sniffling. "Boppy'll be back. So I'm okay."

Nodding, Booster takes a breath and then immediately slings his arms around Ted's shoulders and pulls him into a full-body hug. "This is the weirdest, wildest, dumbest reunion of all time, but I don't want you to ever doubt that…" he looks ahead, searching for his words. He blinks in distraction. "Don't… want you to…"

Holding Ted and arm's length, Booster stares ahead at Skeets and, more specifically, at the chalkboard just behind Skeet's floating form.

Where before Ted Kord is KEY was written by itself, there is now a giant checkmark

"That… That dramatic son of a bitch!" Michael cries out, forgetting his weariness to stomp over to the board and examine. "He's– He does exist in this universe and has been writing on the board! The whole time! He could have– why did he want–"

"Michael," Michelle clears her throat before stiffly nodding her head toward Ted. "Maybe he… needed to make sure… things happened."

Ted, for his part, looks utterly lost.

"Come here," Booster groans, reaching over to grab Ted's wrist and yanking him close before planting a kiss to his cheek.

"God, you could just ask me to take a few steps forward," Ted chuckles into Booster's skin.

He then grabs Michelle and Rani and pulls them all close. "My family is all here," he says confidently. "Even if one's hiding out in the timestream like a jackass right now."

"Language, Michael, really," Michelle says with no heat to her words at all.

"And I'm always going to do what's right for all of you," he promises.

They hug him back, every bit of his body held close by the people he loves most in the world at that moment in time.

Then another I-beam falls ten feet ahead of them causing them all to jump and yell in surprise.

"Okay," Booster says, slow and drawn out. "What's best for our family next step is probably fixing this place up before doing any other time shenanigans because I think I've put that off for about as long as the old Lab's going to take it."

"Well, not to brag," Ted says before reaching up and pulling his goggles down over his eyes, "but I'm actually kind of a genius with labs."

Booster feels his face melt into an affectionate smile, looking over Ted so fondly. "I know."

"Ew, is this what love looks like," Rani says, sticking out her tongue.

"Come here you," Booster laughs, grabbing her sides and pulling her into a bear hug so that he can nuzzle her neck while she struggles and shrilly giggles. He flinches and lets go to check on his nose.

"You deserve that, brother-o'-mine," Shel baps him on the head.

Ted, though, is on his knees and holding out his hands to study the bandage over Booster's nose instead. He smirks and shakes his head. "You do know that promise goes both ways, right?" he asks, gently putting his hands over Booster's. "I'll do anything that's best for you, too."

"I know," Booster says.

He knows there's a lot of work still left to do, and that this new universe has a lot of things left to fix, but he feels in his soul more than he ever has before that on the track they're on, there's no place he'd rather be in that moment. For once, he can't wait to see what the future might bring.


End file.
